SOLOMON MAIMON 



SOLOMON MAIMON 



AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 



Translated from the German, with Additions 
AND Notes, 



BY 



J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C, 

Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal. 



ALEXANDER GARDNER, 

PAISLEY; and 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
DAWSON brothers, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON. 

1888. 



cT^^ 



CONTENTS. 



Translator's Preface, - - - • ix. 

Introduction.— State of Poland in last century, - I 

Chapter — 

I._My Grandfather's Housekeeping,- - 6 

II. — First Reminiscences of Youth, - - I9 

'HI.— Private Education and Independent Study,- 22 

IV.— Jewish Schools— The Joy of being released from 

them causes a Stiff Foot,- - - 32 

v.— My Family is driven into Misery, and an old 
Servant loses by his great Faithfulness a 
Christian Burial, - - - 3^ 

VI. — New Abode, New Misery— The Talmudist, - 42 

VII.— Joy endureth but a little while, - - 49 

VIII.— The Pupil knows more than the Teacher— A theft 
d la Rousseau, which is discovered — "The 
ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth 
it on," . - • - 54 



vi. Contents. 

Chapter — page 

IX. — Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals — The 
Song of Solomon may be used in the service 
of Matchmaking — A new Modus Lucrandi — 
Smallpox, - - - - 59 

X. — I become an object of Contention, get two Wives 

at once, and am kidnapped at last, - - 65 

KI. — My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the 
Slave of my Wife, and procures for me 
Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law — A 
Ghost of Flesh and Blood, - • 74 

XII.— The Secrets of the Marriage State— Prince 
Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in 
Poland? - - - -79 

XIII. — Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless 

Struggles with Misery of every Kind, - 89 

XIV. — I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a 

Physician, - - - 94 

XV. — A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from 

its Origin down to the most recent Times, 1 1 1 

XVI. — Jewish Piety and Penances,- - - 132 

XVII. — Friendship and Enthusiasm, - - 138 

XVIIL— The Life of a Family Tutor, - - 145 

XIX. — Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long 

Chapter, - - - - 151 

/ XX. — Continuation of the Former, and also Something 

about Religious Mysteries, - - 176 



Contents. viL 



Chapter — 



PAGE 



XXI. — Journeys to Konigsherg, Stettin, and Berlin, for 
the purpose of extending my Knowledge of 
Men, - - - . 187 

XXII. — Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, - 197 

XXIII. — Arrival in Berlin — Acquaintances — Mendelssohn 
— Desperate Study of Metaphysics — Doubts — 
Lectures on Locke and Adelung, - 210 

XXIV. — Mendelssohn — A Chapter devoted to the Memory 

of a worthy Friend, - - - 221 

XXV. — My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my 
subsequent Conversion — Departure from Berlin 
— Sojourn in Hamburg — I drown myself in 
the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself — 
An old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with 
me, but her Addresses are rejected, - 234 

XXVI. — I return to Hamburg — A Lutheran Pastor 
pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and 
unworthy of Admission into the Christian 
Fold — I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten 
the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, - - 253 

XXVIL— Third journey to Berlin— Frustrated Plan of 
Hebrew Authorship — ^Journey to Breslau — 
Divorce, .... 265 

XXVIII. — Fourth journey to Berlin — Unfortunate circum- 
stances — Help — Study of Kant's Writings — 
Characteristic of my own Works, - 279 

Concluding Chapter, .... 290 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



One effect of Daniel Deronda was to make known to a 
wide circle of readers the vitality of Judaism as a system 
which still holds sway over the mental as well as the 
external life of men. During the few years which have 
passed since the publication of that great fiction, the in- 
terest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is 
but a short time since the Western world was startled by 
the outbreak of an ancient feeling against the Jews, 
which had been supposed to be long dead, at least in 
some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popu- 
lar literature of the day also seems to indicate that the 
life of existing Jewish communities is attracting a large 
share of attention in the reading world. The charming 
pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of Jewish life in 
the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in 
Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap 
form in New York to meet the demand of German Am- 
ericans, and some have also been translated into Eng- 
lish. The interest of English readers in the same sub- 
ject is further shown by the recent translation of Kom- 
pert's Scenes fro?n the Ghetto, as well as by Mr. Cumber- 

A 



X. Translatof^s Preface. 

land's still more recent and powerful romance of The 
Rabbi's Spell. Among students of philosophical litera- 
ture a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of 
Jewish thought by the revival of the question in refer- 
ence to the sources of Spinoza's philosophy. The affini- 
ties of this system with the familiar tendencies of Carte- 
sian speculation have led the historians of philosophy gen- 
erally to represent the former as simply an inevitable 
development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinoz- 
ism with the unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish 
thinkers have been almost entirely ignored. 

In these circumstances a special interest may be felt 
in the life of one of the most remarkable Jews of modern 
times — a life which forms one of the most extraordinary 
biographies in the history of literature. 

Readers of Daniel Deronda may remember that, in 
his search among the Jews of London for some one who 
could throw light on the sad story of Mirah, the hero of 
the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand book- 
shop, where his eye fell on " that wonderful bit of auto- 
biography — the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Mai- 
mon." There are few men so remarkable as Maimon 
who have met with so little recognition in English litera- 
ture. Milman, in his History of the Jeius^ refers once* 
to the autobiography as " a curious and rare book," but 
apparently he knew it only from some quotations in 

* Vol. iii., p. 370, note. 



Translator' s Preface. xi. 

Franck's La Cahhak. Among English metaphysical 
writers the only one who seems to have studied the 
speculations of IMaimon is Dr. Hodgson.* Even the 
new edition of the Eticyclopedia Briia?t?iica gives no 
place to Maimon among its biographies. And yet he is 
a prominent figure among the metaphysicians of the 
Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his Geschichte der 
Neueren Philosophie^\ devotes a whole chapter to the 
life of Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant 
are dismissed with little or no biographical notice. 
Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet curiosity for 
fuller details ; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in 
Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, 
in a Canadian town, upon " a curious and rare book " of 
last century, which was known even to the learned Mil- 
man only through some quotations from a French 
author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to 
while away an unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like 
Daniel Deronda, over the shelves of a second-hand 
bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in 
a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebens- 
geschichte " on the back ; and on taking it down I 
found it to be the veritable autobiography which I had 
been curious to see. 

Some account of the work was given in an article in 



* See the Preface to his PhilosopJiy of Reflection, pp. 16-1S. 
t Vol. v., chap. 7. 



xii. TranslatOT^s Preface. 

the British Quarterly Review for July, 1885 ; but I 
thought that a complete translation would probably be 
welcomed by a considerable circle of English readers. 
The book has many attractions. If the development of 
the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a 
romance, the biography of Maimon may, in the truest 
sense, be said to be one of the most romantic stories 
ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved a 
more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within 
almost insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring 
strength to burst all these, and even to become an ap- 
preciable power in directing the course of speculation. 
The book, however, is much more than a biography ; it 
possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many 
English readers, must be unknown efforts of human 
thought, unknown wanderings of the religious life. The 
light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, both in 
its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, 
in fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book con- 
tains, of Jewish speculation and life were made at a time 
when the author had severed all vital connection with 
his own people and their creed ; and they are therefore 
drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: 
but they are penned by one who had been brought up 
to believe the divine mission of his people, as well as the 
divine authority of their religion; and the criticism of 
his old fliith is generally tempered by that kindly sym- 
pathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on 



Translato)^ s Preface. xiii. 

lingering over the companionships and other associations 
of earher years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy 
and theology acquires an additional value from the fact, 
that he was caught in the full tide of the Kantian move- 
ment, and he was thus in a position to point out unex- 
pected affinities between many an old effort of speculative 
thought among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies 
of modern Christendom. 

Since writing the above-mentioned article for the 
British Quarterly Review^ I learnt that a volume of 
Maimoniana had been issued in 1813 by an old friend 
of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff* ; and through the kind- 
ness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some 
delay, to procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 
pages, and adds extremely little to our knowledge of 
Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a condensation of 
the autobiography ; and the remainder shows the author 
with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, 
of a Boswell. He has preserved but few of the felicities 
of Maimon's conversation ; and what he has preserved 
loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of the 
lively memory by w^hich Boswell was able to reproduce 
the peculiar mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have 



* The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in full : — Maun- 
oniana, oder Rhapsodien Ziir Charakteristik Salomon Maimoti's. 
Aus Seinem Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, 
M.D. Berlin, gedruckt bei G. Ilayn, 181 3. 



xiv. Translator's Preface. 

culled from the little volume a few notes for illustration 
of the autobiography, and I r.m indebted to it for most 
of the materials of the concluding chapter. All my 
additions arc indicated by " Trans" appended. 

The translation gives the whole of the biographical 
lX)rtion of the original. There are, however, ten chapters 
which I have omitted, as they are occupied entirely with 
a sketch of the great work of Maimonides, — the Moreh 
Nebhochim, or Guide of the Perplexed. Owing to their 
somewhat loose connection* with the rest, these chapters 
excite just the faintest suspicion of " padding ; " and at 
all events there is no demand for such a sketch in 
English now, when our literature has been recently 
enriched by Dr. Friedlandcr's careful translation of the 
whole work. 

In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to 
render the original as literally as was consistent with 



•The only lop^ical connection is the fact, that the writings of 
Maimonidcs formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual 
development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes : — "My 
reverence for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as 
the ideal of a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if 
they had been inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so 
far, thnt, when my passions began to grow, and I had sometimes 
to fear lest they might seduce me to some action inconsistent with 
those teachings, I used to employ, as a proved antidote, the abjura- 
tion, * I swear, by the reverence which I owe my great teacher, 
Kabbi Mo.scs ben Maimon, not to do this act.' And this vow, so 
far as I can rememlxir, was always sufficient to restrain me." 
Lebensgeschichtc, \o\. ii., pp. 3-4. 



Tra?isIator's Preface. xv. 

readable English. Only in one or two passages I have 
toned down the expression slightly to suit the tastes of 
our own time ; but even in these I have not been 
unfaithful to the author's meaning. 

In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I 
have never, without some good reason, interfered with 
the original. But as Maimon is not always consistent 
with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at liberty 
to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are 
more familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an 
English reader. 



Thf 

a UNJVv 



SOLOMON MAIMOR 



INTRODUCTION. 

The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided 
into six classes or orders : — the superior nobility, the 
inferior nobility, the half-noble, burghers, peasantry and 
Jews. 

The superior nobility consist of the great landowners 
and administrators of the high offices of government. 
The inferior nobility also are allowed to own land and to 
fill any political office ; but they are prevented from 
doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither 
own land, nor fill any high office in the State ; and by 
this he is distinguished from the genuine noble. Here 
and there, it is true, he owns land ; but for that he is in 
some measure dependent on the lord of the soil, within 
whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is required 
to pay him a yearly tribute. 

The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. 
They are not, 'tis true, in servitude to any man ; they 
also enjoy certain privileges, and have a jurisdiction of 



2 Introductioti. 

their own. lUit as they seldom own any property of 
value, or follow rightly any profession, they always 
remain in a condition of pitiable poverty. 

The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the 
Jews, are the most useful in the country. The former 
occupy themselves with agriculture, raising cattle, keep- 
ing bees, — in short, with all the products of the soil. 
The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and 
handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, 
brandy, mead and other articles. They are also the 
only persons who farm estates in towns and villages, 
except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the 
reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a 
position to make a living, and accordingly prefer to hand 
over their farms to the peasants. For this they must 
suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry have 
no aptitude for this sort of employment : but of course 
they choose rather to bear this with Christian resignation. 

In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish 
landlords, the oppression of the tenantry, and the utter 
want of economy, most of the farms in Poland, at the 
end of last century,* had fallen into such a state of 
decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand 
Polish gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten ; but in con- 
sequence of still greater ignorance and laziness, with all 
that advantage even he could not make a living off the 

* That is, of course, the seventeenth. — Trans. 



liitrodiictioii. 3 

farm. An incident, however, occurred at this time, 
which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from 
Gahcia, where the Jews are much shrewder than in 
Lithuania, took, under the name oi Dersawzes or farmers- 
general, a lease of all the estates of Prince Radzivil, and, 
by means of a better industry as well as a better economy, 
they not only raised the estates into a better condition, 
but also enriched themselves in a short time. 

Disrecrarding the clamour of their brethren, they in- 
creased the rents, and enforced payment by the sub- 
lessees with the utmost stringency. They themselves 
exercised a direct oversight of the farms ; and wherever 
they found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own 
interests and those of his landlord in the improvement 
of his farm by industry and economy, spent the whole 
day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon 
brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his 
indolence by a flogging. This procedure of course 
acquired for the farmers-general, among their own people, 
the name of tyrants. 

All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, 
who at the term had hitherto been unable to pay up his 
ten gulden of rent without requiring to be sent to jail 
about it, now came under such a strong inducement to 
active exertion, that he was not only able to support a 
family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of 
ten, four or five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand 
gulden. 



4 Introduction. 

The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes : — 
(i) the ilhtcrate workingpeople, (2) those who make 
learning their profession, and (3) those who merely de- 
vote themselves to learning without engaging in any re- 
munerative occupation, being supported by the industrial 
class. To the second class belong the chief rabbis, 
preachers, judges, schoolmasters, and others of similar 
profession. The third class consists of those who, by 
their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard 
of the unlearned, are taken by these into their families, 
married to their daughters, and maintained for some 
years with wife and children at their expense. Afterwards, 
however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself the 
maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who 
are usually very numerous) ; and for this, as is natural, 
she thinks a good deal of herself. 

There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where 
religious freedom and religious enmity are to be met with 
in equal degree. The Jews enjoy there a perfectly free 
e.xercise of their religion and all other civil liberties ; they 
have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other 
hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name 
of Jew has become an abomination ; and this abhorrence, 
which had taken root in barbarous times, continued to 
show its effects till about thirteen years ago. But this 
apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it 
is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded 
to the Jews in Poland, has not its source in any respect 



Introduction. 5 

for the universal rights of mankind, while, on the other 
hand, the religious hatred and persecution are by no 
means the result of a wise policy which seeks to remove 
out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the 
welfare of the State. Both phenomena are results of the 
political ignorance and torpor prevalent in the country. 
With all their defects the Jews are almost the only useful '^ ^ 
inhabitants of the country, and therefore the Polish people ^'^-^L 

found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their "^j-^-zc^ 
own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews ; ^^^-t^:-.-^ ^ j 
but, on the other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor ^ A-^ A 
could not fail to produce religious hatred and persecution. 



Solomon Maimon : 



CHAPTER I. 

My Grandfather's Housekeeping. 

M\' grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some 
villages in the neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the 
territory of Prince Radzivil.* He selected for his 
residence one of these villages on the river Niemen, 
called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, 
there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse 
for the use of the vessels that come from Konigsberg, in 
Prussia. All this, along with a ' bridge behind the 
village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the river 
Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth 
about a thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's 
Chazakah.\ This farm, on account of the warehouse 
and the great traffic, was very lucrative. With sufficient 
industry and economical skill, si inejis 7ion laeva fuisset^ 
my grandfather should have been able, not only to 
support his family, but even to gather wealth. The bad 



• Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his 
birth ; but Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, 
about the year 1754 (Maivtoniana, p. 10). Trans. 

t Tills word is explained below, at the beginning of the next 
chapter. 



An Autobiography. j 

constitution of the country, however, and his own want 
of all the acquirements necessary for utilising the land, 
placed extraordinary obstacles in his way. 

My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under 
him in the villages belonging to his farm. 'J'hese not 
only lived continually with my grandfather under the 
pretence of assisting him in his manifold occupations, 
but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at 
the end of the year. 

The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, 
had fallen into decay from age, and required therefore to 
be repaired. The harbour and the bridge also had 
become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of 
the lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put 
it in a condition fit for use. But, like all the Polish 
magnates, he resided permanently in Warsaw, and could ^ 
therefore give no attention to the improvement of his 
estates. His stewards had for their principal object the 
improvement rather of their own condition than of their 
landlord's property. They oppressed the farmers with 
all sorts of exactions, they neglected the orders given for 
the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended 
for this purpose they applied to their own use. My 
grandfather indeed made representations on the subject 
to the stewards day after day, and assured them that it 
was impossible for him to pay his rent, if everything was 
not put into proper condition according to the lease. 
All this, however, was of no avail. He always received 



8 Solomon Maimon : 

promises indeed, but the promises were never fulfilled. 
The result was not only the ruin of the farm, but several 
other evils arising from that. 

As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this 
place ; and as the bridges were in a bad state, it hap- 
pened not infrequently that these broke down just when 
a Polisli nobleman with his rich train was passing, and 
horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The 
poor farmer was then dragged to the bridge, where he 
was laid down and flogged till it was thought that suf- 
ficient revenge had been taken. 

My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard 
against this evil in the future. For this purpose he 
stationed one of his people to keep watch at the bridge, 
so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident of 
this sort should happen, the sentinel m.ight bring word 
to the house as quickly as possible, and the whole family 
might thus have time to take refuge in the neighbouring 
wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror out of the 
house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to 
remain the whole night in the open air, till one after 
another ventured to approach the house. 

This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father 
used to tell of an incident of this sort, which happened 
when he was still a boy of about eight years. The whole 
family had fled to their usual retreat. But my father, 
who knew nothing of what had happened, and was play- 
ing at the back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When 



A?i Autobiography. 9 

the angry lord came into the house with his suite, and 
found nobody on whom he could wreak his vengeance, 
he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, 
when my father was found at the back of the stove. 
The nobleroan asked him if he would drink brandy, and, 
on the boy refusing, shouted : " If you will not drink 
brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he 
ordered a bucketful of water to be brought, and forced 
my father, by lashes with his whip, to drink it out. Na- 
turally this treatment brought on a quartan fever, which 
lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined 
his health. 

A similar incident took place when I was a child of 
three years. Every one ran out of the house ; and the 
housemaid, who carried me in her arms, hurried forth. 
But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran 
after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme 
haste let me fall from her arms. There I lay whimpering 
on the skirt of the wood, till fortunately a peasant passing 
by lifted me up and took me home with him. It was 
only after everything had become quiet again, and the 
family had returned to the house, that the maid remem- 
bered having lost me in the flight, when she began to 
lament and wring her hands. They sought me every- 
where, but could not find me, till at last the peasant 
came from the village and restored me to my parents. 

It was not merely the terror and consternation, into 
which we used to be thrown on the occasion of such a 

B 



lo Solomon Maivion : 

fliiiht ; to this was added the plundering of the house 
when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, and 
mead were drunk at pleasure ; the spirit of revenge even 
went so far at times, that the casks were left to run out ; 
corn and fowls were carried off; and so forth. 

Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a 
more powerful litigant, rather borne the injustice, and 
built the bridge in question at his own expense, he would 
have been able to avoid all these evils. He appealed, 
however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the 
steward made sport of his misery. 

And now something about my grandfather's domestic 
economy. The manner of life, which he led in his 
house, was quite simple. The annual produce of the 
arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belong- 
ing to the farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of 
his own family, but also for brewing and distilling. He 
could even, besides, sell a quantity of grain and hay. 
His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. 
He had also a large number of cattle. 

The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn- 
bread mixed with bran, of articles made of meal and 
milk, and of the produce of the garden, seldom of flesh- 
meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and coarse 
stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight 
exception, and my father also, who was a scholar, required 
a different sort of life. 

Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in 



An AutohiograpJiy. ii 

this neighbourhood are continually moving al)out from 
place to place; and as there was a great traffic at our 
village, they were frequently passing through it, and of 
course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. 
Every Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass 
of spirits ; one hand making the salaam* while the other 
reached the glass. He then had to wash his hands, and 
seat himself at the table which remained constantly 
covered. 

The support of a numerous family along with this 
hospitality would have had no serious effect in impairing 
my grandfather's circumstances, if at the same time he 
had introduced a better economy in his house. This, 
however, was the source of his misfortune. 

My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, 
and neglected therefore matters of the greatest import- 
ance. He looked upon it, for example, as extravagance 
to burn wax or tallow candles ; their place had to be 
supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of 
which was stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the 
other was lit. Not unfrequently by this means fires were 
occasioned, and much damage caused, in comparison 
with which the cost of candles was not worth taking into 
consideration. 

The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, 
salt and other articles were kept for the daily account of 

* The customary Jewish salutation. 



12 



Sfl/o;no?i Maimoii : 



the inn, had no windows, but merely apertures, through 
which it received hght. Naturally this often tempted the 
sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climl) into 
the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously 
with spirits and mead. AVhat was still worse, these 
carousing heroes, from fear of being caught in the act, 
often took to flight, on hearing the slightest noise, with- 
out waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes 
by which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long 
as it might. In this way sometimes whole casks of 
spirits and mead ran out. 

The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely 
with wooden bolts. Any one therefore, especially as the 
barns were at some distance from the dw^elling-house, 
could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off 
whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all 
over, holes, by which wolves (the forest being quite near) 
were able to slink in, and worry the sheep at their con- 
venience. 

The cows came very often from the pasture with empty 

udders. According to the superstition which prevailed 

there, it was said in such cases, that tlic milk had been 

» taken from them by witchcraft, — a misfortune, against 

which it was supposed that nothing could be done. 

My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired 
wilhi her household occupations, lay down often in her 
clothes to sleep by the stove, and had all her pockets 
full of money, without knowing how much. Of this the 



An Autobiography. 13 

housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of 

half their contents. Nevertheless my grandmother 
seldom perceived the want, if only the girl did not play 
too clumsy a trick. 

All these evils could easily have been avoided of 
course by repairing the buildings, the windows, the 
window-shutters and locks, by proper oversight of the 
manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, 
as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and dis- 
bursements. But this was never thought of. On the 
other hand, if my father, who was a scholar, and educa- 
ted partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical suit, 
for which a finer stuff was required than that in common 
use, my grandfather did not fail to give him a long and 
severe lecture on the vanity of the world. " Our fore- 
fathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of these new- 
fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You 
must have a coat of striped woolen cloth,* you must 
have leather hose, with buttons even, and everything on 
the same scale. You will bring me to beggary at last ; I 
shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, 
poor unfortunate man ! AVhat is to become of me ? " 

My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of 
the profession of a scholar, and showed moreover that. 



* The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"— a provin- 
cialism which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this transla- 
tion. — Trans. 



I A Solomon Maiino7i : 

in a well-arranged system of economy, it does not so 
much matter whether you live somewhat better or worse, 
and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not 
from extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but 
rather from the fact that he allowed himself by his re- 
missness to 1)0 plundered by others. All this however 
was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not 
tolerate innovations. Everything therefore had to be 
left as it was. 

My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to 
be a rich man, which he could really have been if he had 
known how to make use of his opportunities ; and on this 
account he was envied and hated by all, even by his own 
family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was op- 
pressed in every possible way by the steward, and cheated 
and robbed by his own domestics as well as by strangers. 
In short, he was the poorest rich ina7i in the world. 

In addition to all this there were still greater misfor- 
tunes, which I cannot here pass over wholly in silence. 
The pope, that is, the Russian clergyman in this village, 
was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had scarcely learned 
to read and write. He spent most of his time at the inn, 
where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and 
let his liquor always be put down to his account, without 
ever a thought of paying his score. My grandfather at 
last became tired of this, and made up his mind to give 
him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally 
took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge. 



\ 



An Autobiography. 15 

For this he found at length a means, at which indeed 
humanity shudders, but of which the CathoHc Christians 
in Poland were wont to make use very often at that time. 
This was to charge my grandfather with the murder of a v 
Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was 
done in the following way : A beaver-trapper, who so- 
journed constantly in this neighbourhood to catch 
beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to trade 
in these animals with my grandfather ; and this had to 
be done secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and 
all that are taken must be delivered at the manor. The 
trapper came once about midnight, knocked and asked 
for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was 
pretty heavy to lift, and said to him with a mysterious 
air, " I have brought you a good big fellow here." My 
grandfather was going to strike a light, to examine the 
beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. 
He however said, that this was unnecessar)-, that my 
grandfather might take the beaver at any rate, and that 
they would be sure to agree about it afterwards. My 
grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag 
just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to 
rest. Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when 
he was roused a second time with a loud noise of 
knocking. 

It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, 
who immediately began to make search all over in the 
house. They found the bag, and my grandfather already 



1 6 Solomon Maimon : 

trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing else 
than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account 
of his secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the 
fact. But how great was his horror, when the bag was 
opened, and, instead of a beaver, there was found a 
corpse ! 

My grandfather was ])ound with his hands behind his 
back, his feet were put into stocks, he was thrown into a 
waggon, and brought to the town of Mir, wdiere he was 
given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in 
chains, and put into a dark prison. 

At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, 
related the events exactly as they had happened, and, as 
was reasonable, demanded that the beaver-trapper should 
be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be 
found, was already over the hills and far away. He w^as 
sought everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the 
criminal court, to whom the time became tedious, 
ordered my grandfather three times in succession to be 
brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast 
in his assertion. 

At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was 
examined; and as he straightway denied the whole affair, 
he also was put to the test of torture. Thereupon at 
once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, 
some time before, he had found this dead body in the 
water, antl was going to bring it to the parsonage for 
burial. The parson however had said to him, "There is 



An Autobiography. 17 

plenty of time for the burial. You know that the Jews 
are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all 
eternity. They crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
even yet they seek Christian blood, if only they can get 
hold of it for their passover, which is instituted as a sign 
of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. 
You will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can 
smuggle this dead body into the house of the damned 
Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear out, but 
your trade you can drive anywhere." 

On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the 
place, and my grandfather set free; but the pope re- 
mained pope. 

For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my 
grandfather from death, my father composed in Hebrew 
a sort of epopee, in which the whole event was narrated, 
and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a 
law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated 
in the family every year, when this poem should be 
recited in the same way as the Book of Esther at the 
festival of Haman.* 



* Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one of the 
commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, especially 
in Er.stern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of Christian 
children for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that scarcely 
ever was the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of a 
Jewish community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, 
ending in an indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated 



1 8 Solomon Maimon : 

mob. It is a singularly creditable proof of the liberal government 
of Stephen Batory, — one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on 
the throne of Poland, —that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict 
prohibiting the imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being 
utterly inconsistent with the principles of their religion. Yet, in 
spite of this enactment, the fanatical suspicion continued to display 
itself at frequent intervals. Milman supposed it had been finally 
quelled by the ukase of the Russian Government in 1835, which 
went in the same direction as the earlier prohibition of the Polish 
king {History of iJie Je7vs, vol. iii., p. 389). What would have 
been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, half a century 
after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion was to revive, 
that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in the solemn 
trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a Christian girl 
in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the Imperial and 
Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the charge, 
and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive contro- 
versial literature in the language of the most learned nation in the 
world ! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, 
as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an 
article by Dr. Wright, on The Jews and the Malicious Charge of 
Jill man Sacrifice in the Nineteenth Century, for November, 1883. 
— Trans. 



A?i Autobiography. 19 



CHAPTER II. 



First Reminiscences of Youth. 



In this manner my grandfather Hved for many years in 
the place where his forefathers had dwelt ; his farm had 
become, as it were, a property of the family. By the 
Jewish ceremonial law the Chazakah, that is, the right 
of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' 
possession ; and the right is respected even by Christians 
in this neighbourhood. In virtue of this law no other 
Jew could try to get possession of the farm by a 
Hosaphah, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would 
not bring down upon himself the Jewish excommunica- 
tion. Although the possession of the farm was accom- 
panied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet it 
was from another point of view very lucrative. My 
grandfather could not only live as a well-to-do man, but 
also provide richly for his children. 

His three daughters were well dowered, and married 
to excellent men. His two sons, my uncle Moses and 
my father Joshua, were married likewise ; and when he 
became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he 
had been exposed, he gave over the management of the 



20 Solomon Maimoti : 

house to his two sons in common. These were of 
different temperaments and incHnations, my uncle Moses 
being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior intelli- 
gence, while my father was the opposite ; and conse- 
quently they could not work together well. My grand- 
father therefore gave over to my uncle another village, 
and kept my father by himself, although from his 
profession as a scholar my father was not particularly 
adapted for the occupations of household-management. 
He merely kept accounts, made contracts, conducted 
processes at law, and attended to other matters of the 
same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very 
lively woman, well disposed to all sorts of occupations. 
She was small of stature, and at that time still very young. 
An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because 
it is the earliest reminiscence from the years of my youth. 
I was about three years old at the time. The merchants, 
who put up constantly at the place, and especially the 
Shaffers, that is, the nobles who undertook the navigation, 
the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobi- 
lity, were extremely fond of me on account of my liveli- 
ness, and made all sorts of fun with me. These merry 
gentlemen gave my mother, on account of her small 
stature and liveliness, the nickname of Kitza, that is, a 
young filly.* As I heard them often call her by this 

* It seems tlial Mainion gives a euphemistic explanation of this 
word, as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible its 
extreme olTcnsiveness to his mother. — Trajan. 



An Autobiography. 21 

name, and knew nothing of its meaning, I also called her 
Mama Ktiza. My mother rebuked me for this, and 
said, " God punishes any one who calls his mother 
Afama KuzaT One of these Shaffers, Herr Piliezki, 
used every day to take tea in our house, and enticed me 
to his side by giving me at times a bit of sugar. One 
morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had 
placed myself in the usual position for receiving the 
sugar, he said he would give it to me only on condition 
that I should say Mama Kuza. Now as my mother was 
present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore 
to my mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon 
as she had shut the door, I went to him and whispered 
into his ear. Mama Kuza. He insisted however that I 
should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece 
of sugar for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly 
I said, " Herr Piliezki wants me to say Mama Kuza ; 
but I will not say Mama Kuza., because God punishes 
any one who says Matna Kuza." Thereupon I got my 
three pieces of sugar. 

My father introduced into the house a more refined 
mode of life, especially as he traded with Konigsberg in 
Prussia, where he procured all sorts of pretty and useful 
articles. He provided himself with tin and brass 
utensils ; we began to have better meals, to wear finer 
clothes, than before ; I was even clad in damask. 



22 



Solomon Maimon : 



CHAPTER III. 

Private Education and Independent Study. 

In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with 
me. "In the beginning God created the heaven and 
the earth." Here I interrupted my father, and asked, 
" But, papa, who created God ? " 

"God was not created by any one," repHed my father; 
" He existed from all eternity." 

" Did he exist ten years ago ?" I asked again. 

" O yes," my father said, " He existed even a hundred 
years ago." 

" Then perhaps," I continued, " God is already a 
thousand years old ?" 

" Silence ! God was eternal." 

" But," I insisted, " He must surely have been born at 
some time." 

" You little fool," said my father, " No ! He was for 
ever and ever and ever." 

With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I 
thought " Surely papa must know better than I, and with 
that I must therefore be content." 



A?i Autobiography. 23 

This mode of representation is very natural in early 
youth, when the understanding is still undeveloped, while 
the imagination is in full bloom. The understanding 
seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp all round.* 
That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the 
origin of an object conceivable, without considering, 
whether the object, whose origin is known, can also be 
actually represented by us or not. The imagination, on 
the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete image 
something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, 
for example, an infinite series of numbers, which pro- 
gresses according to a definite law, is for the under- 
standing an object, to which by this law definite qualities 
are attached, and an object just as good as a finite series, 
which progresses according to the same law. For the 
imagination, on the other hand, the latter indeed is an 
object ; but not the former, because it cannot grasp the 
former as a completed whole. 

A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, 
this consideration suggested to me a thought, which I 
expressed in an essay that I laid before Professor Garv^e, 
and which, though at the time I knew nothing of the 
Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I 
explained this somewhat in the following way : — The 
metaphysicians necessarily fall into self-contradiction. 



* The original runs : " Der Verstand sucht bloss z\x fassen, die 
Einbildungskraft aber zu uinfassen.'" — Tr. 



V 



24 Solomon Mai man : 

According to the confession of Lcil:)nitz himself, who in 
this appeals to tlie experiment of Archimedes with the 
lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a 
principle of experience. Now, it is quite true that in 
experience everything is found to have a cause ; but for 
the very reason, that every thing has a cause, nothing 
can be met with in experience which is :i first cause, that 
is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can 
the metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a 
first cause? 

Afterwards I found this objection more particularly 
developed in the Kantian philosophy, where it is shown 
that the Category of Cause, or the form of hypothetical 
judgments used in reference to the objects of nature, by 
which their relation to one another is determined a 
priori^ can be applied only to objects of experience 
through an a priori schema. The first cause, which 
implies a complete infinite series of causes, and therefore 
in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can never be 
complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an 
idea of reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of 
'/ the imagination, which, not content with the mere know- 
ledge of the law, seeks to gather the multiplicity, which 
is subject to the law, into an image, though in opposition 
to the law itself. 

On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of 
Jacob and Esau ; and in this connection my father quoted 
the passage from the Talmud, where it is said, "Jacob 



An Autobiography. 25 

and Esau divided between them all the blessings of the 
world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on 
the contrary, those of the future life ; and since we are 
descended from Jacob, we must give up all claim to tem- 
poral blessings." On this I said with indignation, 
" Jacob should not have been a fool ; he should rather 
have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately 
I got for answer, "You ungodly rascal ! " and a box on 
the ear. This did not of course remove my doubt, but 
it brought me to silence at least. 

The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the 
chase, came one day with his whole court to hunt in the 
neighbourhood of our village. Among the party was his 
dausfhter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The 
young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook 
herself with the ladies of her court, the servants in waiting 
and the lackeys, to the very room, where as a boy I was 
sitting behind the stove. I was struck with astonishment 
at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed 
with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the 
dresses with their trimmings of gold and silver lace ; I 
could not satisfy my eyes with the sight. ^ly father 
came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had broken 
into the words, ''O how beautiful ! " In order to calm 
me, and at the same time to confirm me in the principles 
of our faith, he whispered into my ear, " Little fool, in 
the other world the duksel\s\\\ kindle \^^ pezsiire for us," 
which means. In the future life the princess will kindle 

c 



26 Solomon Maimon : 

the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feel- 
ing which this statement produced in me. On the one 
hand, I beheved my father, and was very glad about this 
future happiness in store for us ; but I felt at the same 
time pity for the poor princess who was going to be 
doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, 
I could not get it into my head, that this beautiful rich 
princess in this splendid dress should ever make a fire 
for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the greatest perplexity 
on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts out 
of my head. 

I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for 
drawing. True, I had in my father's house never a 
chance of seeing a work of art, but I found on the title- 
page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds 
and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, 
and made an effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or 
charcoal. What however strengthened this inclination 
in me still more was a Hebrew book of fables, in which 
the personages who play their part in the fables — the 
animals — were represented in such woodcuts. I copied 
all the figures with the greatest exactness. My father 
admired indeed my skill in this, but rebuked me at the 
same time in these words, " You want to become a 
painter ? You are to study the Talmud, and become a 
rabbi. He who understands the Talmud, understands 
everything," 

This desire and faculty for painting went with me so 



An Autobiography. 27 

far, that when my father had settled in H , where 

there was a manor-house with some beautifully tapestried 
rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because the 
landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the 
place, I used to steal away from home whenever I could, 
to copy the figures on the tapestries. I was found once 
in mid-winter half-frozen, standing before the wall, hold- 
ing the paper in one hand (for there was no furniture in 
this apartment), and with the other hand copying the 
figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, 
that, if I had kept to it, I should have become a great, 
but not an exact, painter, that is to say, I sketched with 
ease the main features of a picture, but had not the 
patience to work it out in detail. 

My father had in his study a cupboard containing 
books. He had forbidden me indeed to read any books 
but the Talmud. This, however, was of no avail : as he 
was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, 
I took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. 
Under the impulse of curiosity I made a raid upon the 
cupboard and glanced over all the books. The result 
was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of Hebrew, I 
found more pleasure in some of these books than in the 
Talmud. And this result was surely natural. Take the 
subjects of the Talmud, which, with the exception of 
those relating to jurisprudence, are dry and mostly un- 
intelligible to a child — the laws of sacrifice, of purifica- 
tion, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth — in which 



/ 



2 8 Solomo7i Maimofi: 

the oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through 
many volumes with the finest dialectic, and the most 
absurd questions arc discussed with the highest efforts 
of intellectual power ; for example, how many white hairs 
may a red cow have, and yet remain a 7'ed cow ; what 
sorts of scabs require this or that sort of purification ; 
whether a louse or a flea may be killed on the Sabbath, 
— the first being allowed, while the second is a deadly 
sin ; — whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be 
executed at the neck or the tail ; whether the highpriest 
put on his shirt or his hose first ; whether the Jabam, 
that is, the brother of a man who died childless, being 
required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from his 
obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. 
Ohejam satis est ! Compare these glorious disputations, 
which are served up to young people and forced on them 
even to disgust, with history, in which natural events are 
related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with a 
knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook 
into nature is widened, and the vast whole is brought into 
a well-ordered system ; surely my preference will be 
justified. 

Tlie most valuable books in the collection were four. 
There was a Hebrew chronicle under the title of Ze7nach 
David* written by a sensible chief rabbi in Prague, 



* That is, The Branch (or Offspring) of David. See Jeremiah 
xxiii. 5 ; xxxiii. 15 ; Isaiah xi. i. — Trans. 



A?t Autobiography. 29 

named Rabbi David Cans. He was also the author of 
the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he 
had had the honour of being acquainted with Tycho 
Brahe, and of making astronomical observations with 
him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were 
besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a 
History of the Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But 
what attracted me most powerfully was an astronomical 
v.ork. In this work a new world was opened to me, and 
I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. 
Think of a child about seven years of age, in my posi- 
tion, with an astronomical work thrown in his way, and 
exciting his interest. I had never seen or heard anything 
of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one 
to give me any direction in the study : for it is needless 
to say, that to my father I dared not even let my curio- 
sity in the matter be known, and, apart from that, he was 
not in a position to give me any information on the sub- 
ject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for know- 
ledge, have been inflamed by such a discovery ! This 
the result will show. 

As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's 
house were few, I was allowed to sleep with my old 
grandmother, whose bed stood in the above-mentioned 
study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy my- 
self solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not 
take another book in my hand, I devoted the evenings 
to my astronomical inquiries. Accordingly after my 



-o Solo f no ft Maim on: 

grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood on 
the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved 
astronomical book. My grandmother indeed scolded 
me, because it was too cold for the old lady to lie alone 
in bed ; but I did not trouble myself about that, and 
continued my study till the fire was burnt out. 

After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came 
to tlie description of the celestial sphere and its imagin- 
ary circles, designed for the explanation of astronomical 
phenomena. This was represented in the book by a 
single figure, in connection with which the author gave 
the reader the good advice, that, since the manifold 
circles could not be represented in a plane figure except 
by straight lines, he should, for the sake of rendering 
them more clearly intelligible, make for himself either an 
ordinary globe or an ar miliary sphere. I therefore 
formed the resolution to make such a sphere out of 
twisted rods ; and after I had finished this work, I was 
in a position to understand the whole book. But as I 
had to take care lest my father should find out how I 
had been occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in 
a corner behind the cupboard before I went to bed. 

My grandmother, who had on several occasions 
observed tliat I was wholly absorbed in my reading, but 
now and then lifted my eyes to look at a number of 
circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell 
into tlie greatest consternation over the matter ; she 
believed nothing less than that her grandson had lost his 



An Autobiography. 31 

'wits. She did not delay, therefore, to tell my father, 
and point out to him the place where the magical 
instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the 
meaning of this. Accordingly he took the sphere in his 
hand, and sent for me. When I came, he asked me, 
" What sort of plaything is this ?" 

" It is a Kadur* " I replied. 

" What does it mean ? " he asked. 

I then explained to him the use of all the circles for 
the purpose of making the celestial phenomena intelli- 
gible. My father, who was a good rabbi indeed, but 
had no special talent for science, could not comprehend 
all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He 
was especially puzzled, by the comparison of my 
armillary sphere with the figure in the book, to under- 
stand how out of straight lines circles should be evolved ; 
but one thing he could see, — that I was sure of my 
business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I 
had transgressed his command to meddle with nothing 
beyond the Talmud ; but still he felt a secret pleasure, 
that his young son, without a guide or previous training, 
had been able by himself to master an entire work of 
science. And with this the affair came to an end. 



The Hebrew word for a globe. 



32 Solomo7i Maimon: 



CHAPTER IV. 



Jewish Schools — The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff 

foot. 



My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. 
My brother, who was about twelve years old, was put to 
board with a schoohnaster of some repute at that time, 
by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all young 
people, " the scourge of God ; " he treated those in his 
cliarge with unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the 
blood came, even for the slightest offence, and not in- 
frequently tore off their ears, or beat their eyes out. 
When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and 
brought him to task, he struck them with stones or what- 
ever else came to hand, and drove them with his slick 
out of the house back to their own dwellings, without any 
respect of persons. All under his discipline became 
either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then 
only seven years old, was sent to another schoolmaster. 

An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the 
one side great brotherly love, and on the other may be 
viewed as expressing the condition of a child's mind, 
that sways between the hope of lightening an evil, and 
the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school, 



A?i Autobiography. 33 

my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was 
doubtless good cause. My brother observed this, and 
asked the reason. At first I showed some hesitation in 
answering ; but at last I said, " I weep because we dare 
not tell tales out of school." My brother understood 
me very well, was extremely indignant at my teacher, and . 
was going to read him a lesson on the subject. I begged 
him however not to do it, because in all probability the 
teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales 
out of school. 

I must now say something of the condition of the 1 
Jewish schools in general. The school is commonly a " 
small smoky hut, and the children are scattered, some 
on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a 
dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees 
a bowl, in which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge 
pestle like the club of Hercules, while at the same time 
he wields his authority. The ushers give lessons, each 
in his own corner, and rule those under their charge 
quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the 
breakfast, lunch, and other food sent to the school for 
the children, these gentlemen keep the largest share for 
themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get 
nothing at all ; and yet they dare not make any complaint 
on the subject, if they will not expose themselves to the 
vengeance of these tyrants. Here the children are im- 
prisoned from morning to night, and have not an hour 



34 Solomoft Maim on : 

to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at 
the Newmoon. 

As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew 
at least is pretty regularly learned. On the other hand, 
with the mastery of the Hebrew language very seldom is 
any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the 
school at all, but has to be learnt ex usu, by translation 
of the Holy Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man 
learns imperfectly the grammar of his mother-tongue by 
social intercourse. Moreover there is no dictionary of 
the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at 
once with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided 
into as many sections as there are weeks in the year, in 
order that the Books of Moses, which are read in the 
synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a 
year. Accordingly every week some verses from the 
begmning of the section proper to the week are explained 
in school, and that with every possible grammatical 
blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the Hebrew 
must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But 
the mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of 
defects and grammatical inaccuracies ; and as a matter 
of course therefore also the Hebrew language, which is 
learned by its means, must be of the same stamp. The 
pupil tlius accjuires just as little knowledge of the 
language, as of the contents, of the Bible. 

In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all 
sorts of extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The 



An Autobiography. 35 

if^norant teacher believes with confidence, that the Bible 
cannot in reality have any other meaning than that which 
these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must 
follow his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding 
of words necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the 
first Book of Moses it is said, " Jacob sent messengers 
to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the Talmudists were 
pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. 
For though the word Malachim in Hebrew denotes 
messenger as well as angels, these marvel-mongers pre- 
ferred the second signification, because the first contains 
nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the 
belief firm and fast, that ^Malachim denotes nothing but 
angels; and the natural meaning of messengers is for 
him wholly lost. A correct knowledge of the Hebrew 
language and a sound exegesis can be attained only 
gradually by independent study and by reading grammars 
and critical commentaries on the Bible, like those of 
Rabbi David Kimchi * and Aben Esra; but of these 
very few rabbis make use. 



* This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The 
father, Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were 
obliged to flee from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the 
Mohades about the middle of the twelfth century. He left two 
sons who both followed his favourite studies. The elder, Moses, 
has the credit of having educated his younger and more illustrious 
brother, David, whose Hebrew grammar and dictionary continued 
in general use among scholars for centuries. Kimchi is said to 
have been powerfully influenced, not only by Maimonides, but also 



-6 Solo??JO?i Mavnon: 

As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth ta 
such an infernal school, it may be easily imagined with 
what joy and rapture they look forward to their release. 
\Ve, that is, my brother and I, were taken home to the 
great feasts ; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the 
following incident happened, which in relation to me was 
very critical. My mother came once before Whitsuntide 
to the town where we were at school, in order to pur- 
chase sundry articles required for the house. She then 
took us home with her. The release from school, and 
the sight of the beauty of nature which at this season 
displays its best attire, threw us into such ecstas)', that 
we fell upon all sorts of wanton fancies. When we were 
not far from home, my brother sprang out of the carriage, 
and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his 
daring leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. 
I fell down therefore with violence on the carriage, so 
that my legs came between the wheels, and one of these 
passed over my left leg, which was thereby pitiably 
crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot 
became cramped, and I was wholly unable to move it. 

A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed 
regularly studied and graduated at a university, but had 
acquired his medical knowledge merely by serving. with 



hy Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a century, and who 
was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of the most 
versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's Gcschichtc dcs JudcnthtitiiSy 
vol. ii., [ip. 419-423; and vol. iii , pp. 30-31). — Trans, 



An Autobiography. 37 

a physician and reading some medical books in tlie 
Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good 
practical physician, and effected many successful cures. 
He said that at present he was provided with no 
medicines, — the nearest apothecary's shop was about 
twenty miles* distant, — and consequently he could pre- 
scribe nothing in the ordinary method, but that mean- 
while a simple domestic remedy might be applied. The 
remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the cramped 
foot ; this, repeated several times, was to give certain 
relief. The prescription was followed with the desired 
result, so that after some weeks I was able to use the 
foot again, and by degrees I completely recovered. 

I think it w^ould not be at all amiss, if medical men 
gave more attention to such domestic remedies, which 
are used with good results in districts where there are no 
regular physicians or apothecaries' shops ; they might 
even make special journeys with this end in view. I 
know many a case of this sort, which can be in nowise 
explained away. This however in passing. I return to 
my story. 

*That is, about 100 English miles. — Trans. 



-8 Solomon Maimofi 



CHAPTER V. 

My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his 
great Faithfulness a Christian Burial. 

]\Iv father, wlio, as already mentioned, traded with 
Konigsberg in Prussia, had once sliipped in a vessel of 
Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt and herrings which 
he had bous;ht there. When he came home and was 
going to fetch liis goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely 
refused to let him take them. My father then showed 
the bill of lading, which he had got on the shipment of 
tlic goods ; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and 
threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore 
compelled to carry on a long and costly suit, which he 
had to delay till the following year, when he would again 
make a journey to Konigsberg. Here he obtained a 
certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had 
shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's 
under the direction of Herr Schachna. On this certifi- 
cate the agent was summoned before the court, but 
found it convenient not to make an appearance ; and 
my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third 
instances. In spite of this, however, as a consequence 
of the wretched administration of justice in Poland at 



A?i Autobiography. 39 

the time, my father had no power to execute this 
decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did 
not even recover the costs. 

To this was added the further result, that by this suit 
he made Herr Schachna an enemy who persecuted him 
now in every possible way. This the cunning scoundrel 
could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of intrigues 
he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all 
his estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved 
therefore on my father's ruin, and only waited for a 
convenient opportunity to carry out his revenge. 

This he found soon ; and indeed a Jew, who was 
named after his farm Schwersen, and was known as the 
biggest scoundrel in the whole neighbourhood, offered 
him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not 
even understand the Jewish language, and made use 
therefore of Russian. He occupied himself mainly in 
examining the farms in the neighbourhood, and he knew 
how to get possession of the most lucrative among them 
by offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. With- 
out troubling himself in the least about the laws of the 
ChazakaJi^^ he drove the old legal farmers from their 
possessions, and enriched himself by this means. He 
thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state 
reached an advanced age. 

The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye 

* See above, p. 14. — Trans. 



40 



Solomon Maiinon 



on my grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a 
favourable opportunity and a plausible pretext to get 
possession of it himself. Unfortunately my granduncle 
Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my 
grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor 
of the scoundrel to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. 
As he could not clear off the debt at the time when it 
was due, his creditor came with some servants of the 
manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which 
mv cranduncle's whole wealth consisted. In conster- 
nation he loaded a waggon secretly with the cauldron, 
drove with all haste to my grandfather's, and, without 
letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh 
behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed 
on his heels, came to my grandfather's, and made search 
all over, but could find the cauldron nowhere. Irritated 
at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing vengeance 
against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented 
his success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward 
an imposing present, and offered for my grandfather's 
farm double the rent, besides an annual voluntary present 
to the steward. 

This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mind- 
ful of the disgrace which my father, a Jew, had brought 
upon him, a Polish noble, by the above-mentioned suit, 
made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by which 
he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights 
pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's 



An Autobiography. 41 

lease, but also robbed my grandfather of all he had, — 
his barns full of grain, his cattle, etc., — and shared the 
plunder with the new farmer. 

My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole 
family to quit his dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, 
without knowing where he should settle again, to wander 
about from place to place. Our departure from this 
place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood 
lamented our fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty 
years, named Gabriel, who had carried in his arms even 
my grandfather as a child, insisted on going with us. 
Representations were made to him on the severity of the 
season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in 
which we ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. 
But it was of no avail. He placed himself on the road 
before the gate, by which our waggons had to pass, and 
lamented so long that we were obhged to take him up. 
He did not however travel with us long : his advanced 
age, his grief over our misery, and the severe season gave 
him soon the finishing stroke. He died when we had 
gone scarcely two or three miles ; and as no Catholic or 
Russian community would allow him burial in their 
churchyard — he was a Prussian and a Lutheran — he 
was buried at our expense in the open field. 



42 



Solouwn Maimon: 



CHAPTER VI. 

New Abode, new Misery — The Talmudist. 

We wandered about therefore in the country, Uke the 
Israelites in the wilderness of Arabia, without knowing 
w^here or when we should find a place of rest; At last 
we came to a village which belonged to two landlords. 
The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the 
other could not lease his, because he had still to build a 
house. Weary of wandering in winter-time with a whole 
family, my grandfather resolved to take a lease of this 
house, which was still to be built, along with its appur- 
tenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to 
make shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were 
obliged to take up our quarters in a barn. The other 
farmer did all in his power to prevent our settlement in 
the place; but it was of no avail. The building was 
finished, we took possession, and began to keep house. 

Unfortunately however everything went backward here; 
nothing would succeed. An addition came to our mis- 
fortunes in my mother's illness. Being of a very Uvely 
temperament and disposed to a life of activity, she found 
here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with 



An Autobiography. 43 

her anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her 
into a state of melancholy, which developed at last into 
insanity. In this condition she remained for some 
months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but 
without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of 
taking her to a celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made 
a specialty of curing mental disorders. 

The method of cure employed by this specialist is 
unknown to me, because I was at the time too young to 
wish or be able to institute inquiries on the subject ; but 
so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case of 
my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with 
the same malady, the treatment was followed with success. 
My mother returned home fresh and healthy, and from 
that time she never had an attack of the same sort. 

Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, 
about fifteen miles from our abode, and here I began to 
study the Talmud. The study of the Talmud is the 
chief object of a learned education among our people. 
Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind 
have indeed in their eyes a certain worth, and are 
esteemed in proportion ; but nothing stands among 
them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has 
the first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in 
the community. If he enters an assembly, — he may be 
of any age or rank, — every one rises before him most 
respectfully, and the most honourable place is assigned 
to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and 



44 Solomo?i Maimon: 

judge of the common man. He, who does not meet 
such a scholar with sufficient respect, is, according to 
the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all eternity. 
The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial 
undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not 
according to law. Religious usages, allowed and for 
bidden meats, marriage and divorce are determined not 
only by the rabbinical laws which have already accumu- 
lated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical 
judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from 
the general laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or pro- 
fessional man, who has a daughter, does everything in 
his power to get a good Talmudist for his son-in-law. 
As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may 
be as deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he 
will still have the advantage over others. The future 
father-in-law of such a phoenix is obliged, at the be- 
trothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum fixed by 
previous agreement ; and besides the dowry for his 
daughter, he is further obliged to provide her and her 
husband with food, clothing, and lodging, for six or 
eight years after their marriage, during which time the 
interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in- 
law may continue his studies at his father-in-law's ex- 
pense. After this period he receives the dowry in hand, 
and then he is either promoted to some learned office, 
or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In either 
case the wife undertakes the management of the house- 



An Autobiography. 45 

hold and the conduct of business ; and she is content if 
only in return for all her toils she becomes in some 
measure a partaker of her husband's fame and future 
blessedness. 

The study of the Talmud is carried on just as 
irregularly as that of the Bible. The language of the 
Talmud is composed of various Oriental languages and 
dialects ; there is even many a word in it from Greek 
and Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can 
turn up the expressions and phrases met with in the 
Talmud ; and, what is still worse, as the Talmud is not 
pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are 
not pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the 
Talmud, therefore, like that of the Bible, is learned only 
through frequent translation; and this constitutes the 
first stage in the study of the Talmud. 

When the pupil has been directed for some time in 
translation by the teacher, he goes on to the independent 
reading or explanation of the Talmud. The teacher 
gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, containing 
within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposi- 
tion, which he must perform within a fixed time. The 
particular expressions and forms of speech occurring in 
the passage must either be known by the pupil from his 
former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place 
of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor 
and the entire connection of the prescribed passage the 



^(3 Solomon Maimo?i : 

pupil is required to bring out himself; and this consti- 
tutes the seco?id stage in the study of the Talmud. 

Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along 
with the text, serve as the chief guides at this point. 
The author of the one is Rabbi Solomon Isaac,* a man 
gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge of lan- 
"uacre, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, 
and with an uncommon precision of style. The other is 
known by the title of Tosaphoth (Additions), and is the 
work of several rabbis. Its origin is very remarkable. 
A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study the 
Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a 
separate portion, which he studied by himself till he 
believed that he had fully comprehended it, and retained 
it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis met, and began 
to study the Talmud in company according to the order 
of its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, 
thoroughly explained, and settled according to the 
Talmudic Logic, one of the rabbis produced, from the 
part of the Talmud with which he was most familiar, 
anything that appeared to contradict this passage. 
Another then adduced, from the part which he had 
made thoroughly his own, a passage which was able to 



* Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or Raschi, 
as he is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes in 
the latter half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, 
Meir, and the three sons of Meir, who may be said to have begun 
the Tosaphoth, referred to in the text. — Trans, 



An Autobiography. 47 

remove this contradiction by means of some distinction 
or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding 
passage. Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction 
occasioned another, which a third rabbi disclosed, and a 
fourth laboured to remove, till the first passage was ex- 
plained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. 
It may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety 
is required to reduce the Talmud to first principles, from 
which correct inferences may be drawn after an uniform 
method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and hetero- 
geneous work, in which even the same subject often 
turns up in different passages, where it is explained in 
different ways. 

Besides these two there are several other commen- 
taries which treat the subject further, and even make 
corrections on the two just mentioned. Indeed, every 
rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be viewed 
as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest 
effort of the mind is required to prepare a selection from 
the Talmud or a code of the laws deducible from it. y 
This implies not only acuteness, but also a mind in the 
highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides un- 
doubtedly deserves the first rank, as may be seen from 
his code, Jad Hachazekah. 

The final stage in the study of the Talmud is that of 
disputation. It consists in eternally disputing about the 
book, without end or aim. Subtlety, loquacity, and im- 
pertinence here carry the day. This sort of study was 



4S Solomon Mainion : 

formerly very common in the Jewish high schools ; * but 
in our times along with the schools it has also fallen in- 
to decay. It is a kind of Talmudic scepticism, and 
utterly incompatible with any systematic study directed 
to some end. 



*As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and pro- 
bably under every civilisation at a certain stage of its history. — 
Trans, 



A?i Aiitohiography. 49 



CHAPTER VII. 

Joy endureth but a little while. 

After this digression on the study of the Talmud I re- 
turn to my story. As already mentioned, I was sent to 
school at Iwenez. My father gave me a letter to the 
chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, re- 
questing him to give me in charge to an able teacher, 
and to give some attention to the progress of my studies. 
He gave me however in charge to a common school- 
master, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in 
order that he might examine me himself. This injunc- 
tion I punctually followed ; but the arrangement did not 
continue long ; for at one of these examinations I began 
to dispute about my lessons and suggest difficulties, 
when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked 
me if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also. 

" Of course," I replied. 

" And what did he say ? " asked the chief rabbi. 

" Nothing to the point," I replied, " except that he en- 
joined silence on me, and said, ' A youngster must not 
be too inquisitive; he must see to it merely that he 
understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his 
teacher with questions.' " 



CO Solomon Maimon : 

"Ah !" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is alto- 
gether too easy, we must make a change. I will give 
you instruction myself. I will do it merely out of 
friendship, and I hope that your father will have as httle 
to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which 
your father pays for your education, will be given to 
your teacher without deduction.'' 

In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He 
struck out a way of his own with me. No weekly 
lessons repeated till they are impressed on the memory, 
no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for him- 
self, and in which the course of his thoughts is very 
often arrested for the sake of a single word or a figure of 
speech, which has little to do with the main subject. 
His method distinguished itself from all this. He made 
me explain something from the Talmud ex tempore in 
his presence, conversed with me on the subject, ex- 
plained to me so much as was necessary to set my own 
mind in activity, and by means of questions and answers 
turned my attention away from all side-issues to the 
main subject, so that in a short time I passed through 
all the three above-mentioned stages in the study of the 
Talmud. 

My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account 
of his plan with me and of my progress, went beside 
himself with joy. He returned his warmest thanks to 
this excellent man for putting himself to so much trouble 
with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstand- 



A?i Autobiography. 51 

ing his delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. 
But this joy did not last long ; before a half year was 
ended, the chief rabbi had to betake himself to his 
fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd. 
This was announced to my father, who came and 

fetched me home. Not, however, to H , from 

which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, about 
six miles from H , whether my father had mean- 
while removed. This new change of abode had taken 
place in the following way. 

Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince 
Radzivil four miles from Nesvij, his residence. The 
situation of this place is excellent. Having the river 
Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity 
of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for 
trade and for shipbuilding. Moreover the district in it- 
self possesses great fertility and amenity. These facts 
could not escape the attention of the Prince. The far- 
mer or arendant of the place, whose family for some 
generations had been in possession of this lucrative farm, 
and had become rich by means of the shipbuilding trade, 
and the numerous fine products of the district, took all 
possible pains to prevent these great advantages from 
being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy 
them alone without being disturbed. But it happened 
once that the prince was travelling through the place, 
and was so taken with its beauty, that he resolved to 
make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and 



5 2 Solomon Maimon : 

made an announcement that the place was to be a 
Slabode ; that is, every one was to be at liberty to settle 
in the place, and drive any kind of trade, and was even 
to be free from all taxes for the first six years. For a 
long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing 
to all sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who 
went so far as even to bribe the advisers of the prince to 
turn his attention away from the subject. 

My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of 

H could not support him and his family, and had 

been obliged to remain there hitherto only from want of 
a better abode, rejoiced very much at the announcement, 
because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place 
of refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law 
of my uncle. In this connection he made a journey to 
the place with my grandfather, had a conversation with 
the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to settle 
in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had 
feared that, on the announcement of the prince's wish, 
people would stream in from all sides, and press him out 
of his possession, was delighted that at least the first who 
settled there was not a stranger, but related to his family 
by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to 
the proposal, but even promised my father all possible 
assistance. Accordingly my father removed with his 
whole family to Mohilna, and had a small house built 
for himself there ; but till it was ready, the family were 
obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn. 



Aft Autobiography. 53 

The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a 
friendly manner, had unfortunately meanwhile changed 
his mind, and found that his fear of being pressed out of 
his possession by strangers was wholly without ground, 
inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed 
since the announcement of the prince's wish, and yet 
nobody had presented himself besides my father. The 
prince, as a Polish chief and Voivode in Lithuania, was 
constantly burdened too much with State affairs in A\'ar- 
saw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan 
himself; and his subordinates could be induced by 
bribes to frustrate the whole plan. These considerations 
showed the arendant that the new-comer could not only 
be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had 
now to share with another what he had before held in 
possession alone. He sought therefore to restrict my 
father, and to disturb him in his settlement, as much as 
possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid 
house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from 
the prince, in accordance with which none of the new- 
comers should enjoy the rights of a burgher till he had 
built a similar house. My father saw himself therefore 
compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indis- 
pensably required for the new arrangements, wholly and 
solely on this useless building. 



5^ Solomon Maimon : 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Pupil knows more than the Teacher — A theft a la Rousseau, 
which is discovered — "The ungodly provideth, and the 
righteous putteth it on." 

My father's condition had thus externally an improved 
appearance, but so much the more doubtful did it ap- 
pear internally on that account. My mother, notwith- 
standing her unwearied activity, was able to make only 
a very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my 
father was obliged to seek, in addition to his other duties, 
a position as teacher, in which he carried on my educa- 
tion ; and I must confess that in this connection I gave 
him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other hand, 
not a Httle vexation. I was then indeed only about 
nine years old ; still, I could not only understand the 
Talmud and its commentaries correctly, but I even took 
delight in disputing about it, and in this I felt a childish 
pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I 
thereby threw into no small perplexity. 

The arendant and my father lived together like neigh- 
bours ; that is, they envied and hated each other. The 
former looked on my father as a vagrant, who had forced 
himself upon him, and disturbed him in his undivided 



A?i Autobiography. 55 

possession of the advantages of the place. My father 
took the arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against 
the consent which he had granted, which my father 
might have dispensed with altogether and had sought 
merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every 
way to restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwith- 
standing the fact that he received actual advantages from 
his settlement. For from this time Mohilna had acquired 
a sort of independence, by means of which the arendant 
was spared many expenses and depreciations. There 
was also a small synagogue erected, and my father took 
the position of chief rabbi, preacher, and director of the 
conscience, as he was the only scholar in the place. He 
lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to 
the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; 
but unfortunately this was of little use. 

I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only 
theft which I ever perpetrated in my life. I often went 
to the house of the arendant, and played with his child- 
ren. Once, when I entered a room and found no one 
there, it being summer and the people of the house all 
busy out of doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little 
medicine- box which appeared to me uncommonly 
charming. When I opened it, I found, to my very 
great sorrow, some money in it ; for it belonged to one 
of the children of the house. I could not resist the de- 
sire to carry off the little box ; but to take the money 
seemed to me in the highest degree shameful. But 



5 6 Solomon Maimo7i: 

when I considered that the theft would be all the more 
easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and 
shame I took the box as it was and thrust it in my 
pocket. I went home with it, and buried it very care- 
fully. The night following I could not sleep, and was 
disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the 
money. I resolved, therefore, to take it back ; but in 
regard to the little box, I could not conquer myself : it 
was a work of art, the like of which I had never seen be- 
fore. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, 
slunk with them into the room already mentioned, and 
waited for an opportunity when nobody was there. I 
was already engaged in smuggling the money into the 
closet ; but I had so little skill in doing this without 
noise and with the necessary despatch, that I was caught 
in the act, and forced to a confession of the whole theft. 
I was obliged to dig up again the valuable work of art, — 
it must have cost about a quarter of a groschen, — to re- 
turn it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself 
called thief hy the children of the house. 

Another incident, which happened to me and had a 
comical issue, was the following. The Russians had 
been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and as they 
obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the 
old. My eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer 
applied to Russian acquaintances of theirs, and received 
in a present some brass buttons, which, being considered 
a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their hose instead 



An Autobiography, 57 

of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was de- 
lighted with the decoration ; but as I had not the skill 
to furnish myself by my own diligence, I was compelled 
to make use of force. I applied, therefore, to my father, 
and demanded that Joseph and Beer should be required 
to share their buttons with me. My father, who, indeed, 
was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above every- 
thing, said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful 
property of their owners, but that, as these had more 
than they required for their own wants, it was but fair 
that they should give me some of those that they did 
not require. To my commendation and their confusion 
he added the passage of the Bible, " The ungodly pro- 
videth, and the righteous putteth it on."* This decision 
had to be carried out in spite of the protest of Joseph 
and Beer ; and I had the pleasure of also shining in 
brass buttons on my hose. 

Joseph and Beer ho'wever could not get over their loss. 
They complained loudly of the impious wrong which had 
been done to them. ]\Iy father, who wished to get rid 
of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the buttons had 
been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not 
use force, but that, if they could get them back again by 



* This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised Ver- 
sion runs: — "He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but 
the just shall put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory: 
— " Der Gottlose schafft sich an, und dcr Fromme bekleidet sich 
damit." — Trans. 

E 



^S Solomon Maimon : 

stratagem, they were at liberty to do so. Both were 
pleased with this decision. They came to me, looked at 
my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in astonishment, 
" Oh ! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth 
hose with linen instead of hemp thread ! They must be 
taken off at once." While they were speaking, they took 
off all the buttons, and went off with joy over their suc- 
cessful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded that 
they should sew the buttons on again ; but they laughed 
me to scorn. My father said to me smiling at this, 
" Since you are so credulous, and allow yourself to be 
deceived, I cannot help you any longer ; I hope you will 
be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an 
end. I was obliged to content myself with wooden 
buttons, and to have often repeated to my mortification 
by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, which my 
father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly pro- 
videth, and the righteous putteth it on." 



An Autobiography. 59 



CHAPTER IX. 



Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals — The Song of Solomon 
may be used in Matchmaking — A new Modus Lucratidi — 
Smallpox. 



In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a 
good deal that was agreeable. In my passions I was 
violent and impatient. Till about my eleventh year, as 
I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was kept 
from all intercourse with women, I never traced any 
special inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident 
produced in me a great change in this respect. 

A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was 
taken into our house as a servant. She charmed me un- 
commonly. Desires began to stir in me, which till this 
time I had never known. But in accordance with the 
strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my 
guard against looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and 
still more against speaking with her, so that I was able 
only now and then to throw at her a stolen glance. 

It happened once however that the women of the 
house were going to bathe, which by the usage of the 
country they are accustomed to do two or three times a 
week. By chance my instinct drove me without reflec- 



6o Solomon Maim on : 

tion towards the place where they bathed ; and there I 
suddenly perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out 
of the steam-bath and plunged into the river flowing by. 
At this sight I fell into a sort of rapture. After my feel- 
ings had calmed down again, being mindful of the strict 
Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I 
remained standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I 
dreaded however lest I might be surprised here, I was 
obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that time I 
became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this 
state continued till my marriage. 

Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three 
daughters. The eldest daughter, Deborah, was already 
married. The second, Pessel, was about my age ; the 
peasantry of the place professed to find even a certain 
resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance 
with all the laws of probability, conjectured that there 
would be a match between us. We formed also a 
mutual affection. But by ill luck the youngest daughter, 
Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one of her 
legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the 
leg remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then 
started a hunt after me ; he was absolutely determined 
to have me for a son-in-law. My father was quite agree- 
able, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the 
straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked 
leg. The arendant however declared that this was imprac- 
ticable, inasmuch as he had fixed on a rich husband for 



\ 



An Autobiography, 6i 

the elder, while the youngest was destined for mc ; and as 
my father was unable to give me anything, he was willing 
to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides 
a considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, 
he was willing in addition to make me a joint-heir of his 
fortune, and to provide me with all necessaries the whole 
of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my father a 
fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only 
to leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try 
and promote his domestic happiness in every possible 
way. The feuds between the two families were to cease 
from this time, and a league of friendship was to unite 
them for the future into one family. 

Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he 
would without doubt have established the fortune of his 
house, and I should have lived with a spouse, who, it is 
true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out some time 
afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other 
respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been 
freed from all cares in the midst of good fortune, and I 
should have been able to apply myself without hindrance 
to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected this 
proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to 
have Pessel for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as 
already mentioned, was impracticable, the feuds between 
the two families broke out afresh. But as the arendant 
was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was 
necessarily always the loser. 



52 Solomo7i Maiuion : 

Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal 

for mc turned up. Mr. L of Schmilowitz, a learned 

and at the same time a rich man, who had an only 
daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose 
y me for his son-in-law without having seen me before. 
He be^an by entering into correspondence with my 
fiUher on the subject, and left it to him to prescribe the 
conditions of the union. My father answered his letter 
in lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages 
from the Talmud, in which he expressed the conditions 
briefly by means of the following verses from the Canticles, 
" The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, and the 
two hundred for those who keep his fruits." "^ Consent 
was given to everything. 

My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, 
saw his future daughter-in-law, and had the marriage- 
contract drawn in accordance with the terms agreed 
upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the 
spot. With this, however, he was not content, but 
insisted that in his letter he had been obliged to limit 
himself to two hundred gulden merely for the sake of the 



* Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, " Thou, 
O Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those that 
keep the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently 
from memory, " Die tausend Gulden sind filr dich, Salomo, und 
die Zweihundert fiir die, die seine Friichte bewahren." In my 
rendering of this the pronoun "his " must be understood in its old 
English latitude as either neuter or masculine. — Trans, 



A/i Autobiography. 63 

beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil ; but he 
would not enter into the transaction at all unless he 
received for himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty 
thalers in Polish money). They had therefore to pay 
him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to him 
the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black 
velvet trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green 
velvet with silver clasps, etc. With these things he came 
home full of joy, gave me the presents, and told me that 
I was to prepare myself for a disputation to be held on 
my marriage day, which would be in two months' time. 

Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she 
was expected to take with her to the wedding, and to 
prepare all sorts of preserves ; I began also to think 
about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the 
mournful news arrived that my bride had died of 
smallpox. My father could easily reconcile himself to 
this loss, because he thought to himself that he had 
made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, and 
that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, 
who had never seen my bride, could not particularly 
mourn her loss ; I thought to myself, " The cap and the 
silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a bride will 
also not be awanting long, while my disputation can 
serve me again." My mother alone was inconsolable 
about this loss. Cakes and preserves are of a perishable 
nature and will not keep long. The labour which my 
mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by 



(34 Solomon Maimoii : 

this fatal accident ; and to this must be added, that she 
could find no place to keep the delicious cakes from my 
secret attacks. 



An Autobiography. O5 



CHAPTER X. 

I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am 
kidnapped at last. 

Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father 
became every day worse. He saw himself, therefore, 
compelled to make a journey to the town of Nesvij, and 
apply for a position as teacher there, whither I also had 
to follow him. Here he opened under favourable con- 
ditions a school of his own, in which he could employ 
me as assistant. 

A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well 
as for her Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house 
at the extremity of one of the suburbs. She had a 
daughter who yielded to her in none of the above- 
mentioned quaUties, and who was indispensable to her 
in the management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this 
was the widow's name), excited by my constantly in- 
creasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband for her 
daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the 
impossibility of carrying out this plan ; first, my father's 
pride, and the demands which he would therefore make, 
and which she could never satisfy ; then my fame, which 
had already excited the attention of the most prominent 



06 Solomon Mavnon : 

and wealthy people of the town ; and finally, the 
moderate character of her own fortune, which was far 
from sufficient to carry out such a proposal. All these 
representations, however, were of no avail with her. She 
liad once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a 
son-in-law, let it cost her what it might ; and she 
thought, the devil would needs be in it, if she could not 
get the young man. 

She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest 
thi whole time he was in the town, discussed the matter 
with him herself on various occasions, and promised to 
satisfy all his demands. My father, however, sought to 
gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question 
for a while. But the time came when we were to return 
home. My father went with me to the widow's house, 
which was the last on our road, in order to wait for a 
conveyance which started from that place. Madam 
Rissia made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, 
introduced my bride, and asked me how I was pleased 
with her. At last she pressed for a decisive answer 
from my father. He was still always holding back, how- 
ever, and sought in every possible way to represent the 
difficulties connected with the subject. 

While they were thus treating with one another, sud- 
denly there burst into the room the chief rabbi, the 
preacher, and the elders of the place, with many of the 
most respectable people. This sudden appearance was 
brought about without any magic in the following way. 



An Autobiography. 67 

1'hese gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at 
the house of a prominent man in this very suburb. 
Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her son 
at once to the liouse with an invitation to the whole 
company to come, immediately after rising from table, to 
a betrothal at her house. They came therefore half 
intoxicated ; and as they believed nothing else than that 
all the preliminaries of the marriage — contract had been 
settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out 
and subscribe the contract, they sat down to table, set 
my father in the midst, and the chief rabbi began to 
dictate the contract to the scribe of the community. 

My father assured them that on the main point nothing 
had yet been decided, and that still less had the pre- 
liminary articles been settled. The chief rabbi fell into 
a passion at this, for he supposed that it was only a 
quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole 
honourable company were being made sport of. He 
turned therefore to the company, and said with a 
haughty air, " Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes 
himself of so much consequence?" My father rei)lied, 
" The Rabbi is here superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a 
common man ; but I believe, no man can dispute my 
right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his 
future happiness on a firm footing." 

The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambi- 
guity of the expression, '■ The Rabbi is here superfluous." 
He saw clearly that he had no right to lay down laws to 



68 Solomon Maimon : 

my father in the matter, and that it was a piece of 
rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a 
company to a betrothal before the parties were agreed 
on the preliminary articles. He began therefore to 
strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the 
advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, 
(lier grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned 
men, and chief rabbis), her personal attractions, and the 
willingness and ability of Madam Rissia to satisfy all 
his demands. 

My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all 
this, was compelled to yield. The marriage-contract 
was made out, and in it Madam Rissia made over to 
her daughter her public-house with all its belongings as 
a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to 
board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. 
Besides I received as a present the entire work of the 
Talmud with its appurtenances, together worth two or 
three hundred thalers,* and a number of other gifts. 
My father came under no obligation at all, and in addi- 
tion received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had 
refused to accept a bill for this sum ; it had to be paid 
to him before the betrothal. 



* The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. " The Babylonian 
Talnuid is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its thirty- 
six treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most 
prominent commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio 
leaves in twelve folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's Literary Remains, 
p. 41). — Trans. 



A /I AutobiograpJiy. 69 

After all this had been arranged, there was a capital 
entertainment, and the brandy bottle was vigorously 
plied. The very next day my father and I went home. 
My mother-in-law i^romised to send after us as soon as 
possible the so-called little presents and the articles of 
clothing for me, which in the hurry she had not been 
able to get ready. Many weeks however passed without 
our hearing or seeing anything of these. My father was 
perplexed about this ; and as the character of my mother- 
in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think 
nothing else than that this intriguing woman was seeking 
some subterfuge to escape from her burdensome contract. 
He resolved therefore to repay like with like. 

The following circumstance strengthened him in this 
resolve. A rich arendant, w^ho used to bring spirits to 
Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in our house on his journey 
through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. He 
had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his 
thoughts as a husband. He knew however what diffi- 
culties he would have to overcome, if he were to treat 
on the subject directly with my father. He chose there- 
fore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father 
his debtor ; and as his critical circumstances would make 
it impossible for him to clear off the debt, he expected 
to force him, as it were, to consent to this union with 
the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount 
stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore 



70 Solomon Maitjwn : 

some barrels of spirits on credit, and the offer was 
accepted with delight. 

As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor 
(this was the name of the arendant) came and reminded 
my father. The latter assured him, that at the moment 
he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged 
him to have patience with him for some time yet. 
" Herr Joshua," said the arendant, " I will speak with 
you quite frankly on this matter. Your circumstances 
are growing daily worse ; and if no fortunate accident 
occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to 
clear off your debt. The best thing for us both therefore 
is this. You have a son, and I have a daughter who is 
the sole heiress of all my property. Let us enter into 
an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be 
wiped out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself w^ill be 
paid in addition, and I shall take a general care to im- 
prove your circumstances so far as hes in my power." 

No one could be more joyous over this proposal than 
my father. Immediately a contract was closed, in 
which the bride's dowry, as well as the required presents, 
was decided in accordance with my father's suggestion. 
The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in 
Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on 
the spot, while fifty thalers in addition were paid to him. 

Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to 
collect some debts there. Unfortunately he had to 
lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, being a great 



An Autobiography. 71 

prattler, told him of her own accord about the good 
match which her daughter had made. " The father of 
the bridegroom," said she, " is himself a great scholar, 
and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven years, who 
has scarcely his equal." 

" I also," replied the arendant, " have, thank God, 
made a good choice for my daughter. You have per- 
haps heard of the celebrated scholar. Rabbi Joshua, in 
Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon : he is my 
daughter's bridegroom." 

Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she 
cried out, " That is a confounded lie. Solomon is my 
daughter's bridegroom ; and here, sir, is the marriage- 
contract." 

The arendant then showed her his contract too ; and 
they fell into a dispute, the result of which was that 
Madam Rissia had my father summoned before the 
court to give a categorical explanation. My father, 
however, did not put in an appearance, although she had 
him summoned twice. 

Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to 
Nesvij for burial. My mother-in-law obtained from the 
court an attachment on the dead body, by which its 
interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. 
My father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in 
court, my mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I 
became again the bridegroom of my former bride. And 
now to prevent any similar reversal of her plans in the 



72 Solotfion Maimon : 

future, and to take from my father all occasion for it, 
my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands 
in accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to 
toe, and even paid my father for my board from the date 
of the betrothal to the marriage. My mother' also was 
now buried, and we returned home again. 

My second father-in-law came too, and called upon 
my father for the ratification of his contract. He how- 
ever pointed out that it was null and void, as it contra- 
vened a previous contract, and had been made by him 
merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no 
intention of fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give 
an ear to these representations, to yield to necessity, and 
reconcile himself to his loss; but in reality he was 
thinking of some means to get me into his hands. 
Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me 
in silence from the table on which I was sleeping, 
packed me with all despatch into his carriage, and made 
off with his booty out at the gate. But as this could not 
be accomplished without some noise, the people in the 
house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnap- 
per, and snatched me out of his hand. To me the 
whole incident appeared at the time like a dream. 

In this way my father was released from his debt, and 
got fifty thalers besides as a gratuity ; but I was 
immediately afterwards carried off by my legal mother- 
in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must 
of course confess that this transaction of my father's 



An Autobiography. 73 

cannot be quite justified in a moral point of view. Only 
his great need at the time can in some measure serve as 
an excuse. 



74 Solomon Maivion: 



CHAPTER XL 



My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my 
Wife, and procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in- 
law — A Ghost of Flesh and Blood. 



On the first evening of my marriage my father was not 
present. As he told me at my departure that he had 
still to settle some articles on my account, and therefore 
I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in spite of all the 
efforts that were made, to appear that evening. Never- 
theless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the 
next day for my father, but still he did not come. They 
then threatened to bring a party of soldiers to drag me 
to the marriage ceremony ; but I gave them for an 
answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, 
for the ceremony would not be lawful except as a 
voluntary act. At last, to the joy of all interested, my 
father arrived towards evening, the articles referred to 
were amended, and the marriage ceremony was per- 
formed. 

Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read 
in a Hebrew book of an approved plan for a husband to 
secure lordship over his better half for life. He was to 



An Autobiography. 75 

tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony ; and if both 
hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain 
the upper hand. Accordingly, when my bride and I 
were placed side by side at the ceremony this trick 
occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must not 
let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole life- 
time lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread 
on her foot, but a certain Je ne sais quoi^ whether fear, 
shame, or love, held me back. While I was in this 
irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of my wife 
on my foot with such an impression that I should almost 
have screamed aloud if I had not been checked by 
shame. I took this for a bad omen and said to myself, 
Providence has destined you to be the slave of your wife, 
you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my 
faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the 
reader may easily conceive why this prophecy had to be 
actually realised. 

I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my 
wife, but — what was very much worse — under the lash 
of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that she had 
promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had 
settled on her daughter as a dowry, w^as burdened with 
debt. Of the six years' board which she had promised 
me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this amid 
constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to 
my youth and want of spirit, ventured now and then to 
lay hands on me, but this I repaid not infrequently with 



76 Solomon Maimon: 

compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed during 
which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, 
plates, spoons, and similar articles. 

Once I came home from the academy extremely 
hungry. As my mother-in-law and wife w^ere occupied 
with the business of the public house, I went myself into 
the room where the milk was kept ; and as I found a dish 
of curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My 
mother-in-law came as I was thus occupied, and screamed 
in rage, "You are not going to devour the milk with the 
cream ! " The more cream the better, thought I, and 
went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. 
She was going to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, 
beat me with her fists, and let me feel all her ill-will. 
Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed her from me, 
seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was 
a sight ! The curds ran down all over her. She seized 
in rage a piece of wood, and if I had not cleared out in 
all haste, she would certainly have beat me to death. 

Scenes like this occurred very often. At such 
skirmishes of course my wife had to remain neutral, and 
whichever party gained the upper hand, it came home to 
her very closely. "Oh !" she often complained, "if only 
the one or the other of you had a little more patience ! " 

Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a strat- 
agem, which had a good effect for a short time at least. 
I rose about midnight, took a large vessel of earthenw^are, 
crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, and began to 



An Autobiography. 77 

speak aloud into the vessel after the following fashion: — 
" O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat 
my beloved son so ill ? If you do not mend your ways, 
your end is near, and you will be damned to all eternity." 
Then I crept out again, and began to pinch her cruelly ; 
and after a while I slipped silently back to bed. 

The following morning she got up in consternation, 
and told my ^^^fe, that my mother had appeared to her 
in a dream, and had threatened and pinched her on my 
account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on 
her arm. ^^^len I came from the synagogue, I did not 
find my mother-in-law at home, but found my wife in 
tears. I asked the reason, but she would tell me nothing. 
My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes 
red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, 
to the Jewish place of burial, thrown herself on my 
mother's grave, and begged for forgiveness of her fault. 
She then had the burial place measured, and ordered a 
wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the 
synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards 
me showed herself extremely amiable. 

I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but 
acted as if I did not obsen-e it, and rejoiced in secret 
over the success of my stratagem. In this manner I 
had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not 
last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on 
the slightest occasion the dance went on as before. In 
short, I was soon aftenvards obliged to leave the house 



/ 






78 Solomo7i Maimon: 

altogether, and accept a position as a private tutor. Only 
on the great feast-days I used to come home. 



An Autobiography. j() 



CHAPTER XII. 



The Secrets of the Marriage State — Prince Radzivil,* or what is 
not all allowed in Poland ? 



In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At 
my marriage I was only eleven years old, and owing to 
the retired life common among people of our nation in 
those regions, as well as the want of mutual intercourse 
between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential 
duties of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any 
other work of nature or art, somewhat as on the pretty 
medicine-box that I stole. It was therefore natural that 
for a considerable time after marriage I could not have 
any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to 
approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. 
It was therefore supposed that I had been bewitched at 
the time of the wedding ; and under this supposition I 
was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand 
all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, 
although indirectly through the help of the imagination. 



* Maimon gives merely the initial " R " of this name ; but as he 
has already (Chap, i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is 
not much mystery in this artifice. — Trans. 



ii 



So Solomon Maimon : 

My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, 
which period embraces the springtime of my existence, 
was a series of manifold miseries with a want of all 
means for the promotion of culture, and, necessarily 
connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, 
in the description of which the pen drops from my hands, 
and the painful memories of which I strive to stifle.* 

The general constitution of Poland at the time; the 
condition of our people in it, who, like the poor ass with 
the double burden, are oppressed by their own ignorance 
and the religious prejudices connected therewith, as well 
as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling classes ; 
the misfortunes of my own family; — all these causes 
combined to hinder me in the course of my develop- 
ment, and to check the effect of my natural disposition. 

The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely 



* This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his 
days. " He dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived 
of all his books ; and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in 
a more pitiable plight. 'From this agony,' said Maimon, *I was 
usually aroused by a loud cry, and my joy was indescribable on 
finding that it was only a dream.'" [Alaiinoniaiia, p. 94). " He 
once received a visit from his brother, for whom he was deeply 
affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a long while, 
gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides pro- 
curing from some friends enough money to pay his travelling ex- 
penses. Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his 
brother go back into the wilderness ; and if he had not had a wife 
and children at home, he would have tried to keep him beside him- 
self." {Ilnd.y p. 175). — Trans, 



An Autobiography. 8i 

the Polish nobility, is of a very mixed kind. Only the 
very few have an opportunity of culture by means of 
upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, by 
which they can best promote at once their own welfare 
and that of their tenantry. Most of them, on the other 
hand, spend their lives in ignorance and immorality, and 
become the sport of their extravagant passions, which 
are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with 
titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions ; 
they own many estates which they do not understand 
how to manage, and they are at perpetual feud with one 
another, so that the kingdom must of necessity become 
the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its great- 
ness. 

Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and 
Voivode in Lithuania, one of the greatest magnates, 
and as occupant of three inheritances in his family 
owned immense estates. He was not without a certain 
kindness of heart and good sense ; but, through 
neglected training and a want of instruction, he became 
one of the most extravagant princes that ever lived. 
From want of occupation, which was a necessary conse- 
quence of neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening 
his knowledge, he gave himself up to drinking, by which 
he was tempted to the most ridiculous and insane actions. 
Without any particular inclination for it he abandoned 
himself to the most shameful sensuality ; and without 



Si Solomon Mainion : 

being cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the 
greatest cruelties. 

He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand 
men, which was used for no purpose in the world except 
display; and during the troubles in Poland he took, 
without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By 
this means he got himself encumbered with the friend- 
ship of the Russians, who plundered his estates, and 
plunged his tenants into the greatest destitution and 
misery. He himself was obliged several times to flee 
from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies 
treasures which had been the gathering of many genera- 
tions. 

Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated ? A 
few examples will, I believe, be sufficient to give the 
reader some idea of them. A certain respect for my 
former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as 
anything but faults of temperament and education, which 
deserve rather our pity than our hatred and contempt. 

When he passed through a street, which he commonly 
did with the whole pomp of his court, his bands of music 
and soldiers, no man, at the peril of his life, durst show 
himself in the street ; and even in the houses people were 
by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, 
who came in his way, he would order up into his carriage 
beside himself. 

Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, 
suspecting nothing but that he was wanted for some 



An Autobiography. 83 

surgical operation, brought his instruments with him, and 
appeared before the prince. 

" Have you brought your instruments with you ? " he 
was asked. 

"Yes, Serene Highness," he rephed. 

" Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will 
open one of your veins." 

The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized 
the lancet ; and as he did not know how to go about the 
operation, and besides his hand trembled as a result of 
his hard drinking, of course he wounded the barber in a 
pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, 
and praised his great skill in surgery. 

He went one day into a church, and being so drunk 
that he did not know where he was, he stood against the 

altar, and commenced to . All who were present 

became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the 
clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed 
the day before. " Eh ! " said the prince, " we will soon 
make that good." Thereupon he issued a command to 
the Jews of the place, to provide at their own expense, 
fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor 
Jews were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for 
the desecration of a Christian Church by an orthodox 
Catholic Christian. 

He once took it into his head to drive on the wall 
round the town. But as the wall was too narrow for a 
coach with six horses, — and he never drove in any other, 



84 Solom07i Mai??wn : 

— his hussars were obhged, with much labour and peril 
of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he 
had driven round the town in this way. 

Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a 
Jewish synagogue, and, without any one to this day 
knowing the reason, committed the greatest havoc, 
smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw 
on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in 
the ark, and so forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was 
present, ventured to lift one of these copies from the 
ground, and had the honour of being struck with a 
musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From 
here the train went to a second synagogue, where the 
same conduct was repeated, and from there they pro- 
ceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings 
were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire. 

Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself 
so malicious towards his own poor subjects, whom he 
was in a position to punish legally whenever they really 
did anything amiss ? Yet this is what happened here. 

On one occasion he took it into his head to make a 
trip to Mohilna, a hamlet belonging to him, which lay 
four short miles from his Residence. This had to be 
done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. 
On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. 
First marched the army in order according to its usual 
regimental divisions, — infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so 
on. Then followed his bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of 



An Avtobiography. 85 

volunteers from the poor nobility. After them came his 
kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not been 
forgotten. These were followed by the music of his 
janissaries, and other bands. Then came his coach, and 
last of all his satraps. I give them this name, because I 
can compare this train with no other than that of Darius 
in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His 
Serene Highness arrived at our public house in the 
suburb of the town which was His Serene Highness' 
Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in his 
own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed 
him of all consciousness, in which alone of course per- 
sonality rests. He was carried into the house and thrown 
with all his clothes, booted and spurred, on to my 
mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply of 
clean linen. 

As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, how- 
ever, I mean my mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to 
their heroic mettle, and remained at home alone. Riot 
went on the whole night. In the very room where His 
Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and 
baking were done. It was well known that, when His 
Serene Highness slept, nothing could waken his high 
person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. 
The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, 
he scarcely knew whether to trust his eyes, when he found 
himself in a wretched public-house, thrown on to a dirty 
bed swarming with bugs. His valets, pages, and negroes 



86 Solotnon Maimon: 

waited on his commands. He asked how he had come 
there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had 
yesterday commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had 
halted here to take rest, that his whole train had mean- 
while gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in Mohilna 
by this time. 

The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, 
and the whole train ordered back. They returned 
accordingly to the Residence in the usual order and 
pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great 
banquet in our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, 
who happened to be in the place at the time, were 
invited. The service used on the occasion was of gold, 
and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast 
which reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splen- 
dour and Lappish poverty. In a miserable public-house, 
whose walls were black as coal with smoke and soot, 
whose rafters were supported by undressed round stems 
of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of 
broken panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine 
covered with paper, — in this house sat princes on dirty 
benches at a still dirtier table, and had the choicest 
dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold plate. 

Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the 
other gentlemen in front of the house, and by chance 
observed my wife. She was then in the bloom of her 
youth ; and although I am now separated from her, still 
I must do her the justice to allow that — leaving, of course, 



An Autobiography. 87 

out of account all that taste and art contribute to the 
heightening of a person's charms, inasmuch as these had 
had no influence on her — she was a beauty of the first 
rank. It was therefore natural that she should please 
the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, 
" Really a pretty young woman ! Only she ought to get 
a white chemise." This was a common signal with him, 
and meant as much as the throwing of a handkerchief 
by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore 
heard it, they became solicitous for the honour of my 
wife, and gave her a hint to clear out as fast as possible. 
She took the hint, slipped silently out, and was soon 
over the hills and far away. 

After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded 
again with the other gentlemen into town amid trumpets, 
kettle-drums, and the music of his janissaries. Then the 
usual order of the day was followed ; that is, a carousal 
was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and 
then the party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance 
to the prince's zoological garden, where fire-works were 
set off at great expense, but usually with accidents. As 
every goblet was drained, cannons were fired ; but the 
poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the 
plough than the cannon, were not seldom injured. 
" Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that is, " Long live Prince 
Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this 
Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince ; 
and those who awarded it were loaded by him with 



88 Solomon Maimon: 

presents, not in perishable coin or golden snuff-boxes or 
anything of that sort, but in real estate with many hun- 
dred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during 
which His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was 
carried to the castle. 

The expenses of such extravagance were of course ex- 
torted from the poor tenantry. If this was not sufficient, 
debts were contracted, and estates sold to wipe them out. 
Not even the twelve golden statues in life-size, — whether 
they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve giants, 
I do not know, — nor the golden table which had been 
made for himself, were spared on such emergencies. And 
thus the noble estates of this great prince were dimin- 
ished, his treasures which had accumulated during many 

generations were exhausted, and his tenants But I 

must break off. 

The prince died not long ago without heirs of his 
body. His brother's son inherited the estates. 



An Autobiography. 89 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with 
Misery of every kind. 

By means of the instruction received from my father, but 
still more by my own industry, I had got on so well, that 
in my eleventh year I was able to pass as a full rabbi. 
Besides I possessed some disconnected knowledge in 
history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I 
burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how 
was this to be accomplished in the want of guidance, of 
scientific books, and of all other means for the purpose ? 
I was obliged therefore to content myself with making 
use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without 
plan or method. 

In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, 
there were no means available but that of learning foreign 
languages. But how was I to begin ? To learn Polish 
or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me impossible, 
on the one hand because the prejudices of my own 
people prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and 
all sciences but the Talmud and the vast array of its 
commentators, on the other hand because the prejudices 

G 



go Solomo7i MatfHon : 

of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in 
those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low 
temporal circumstances. I was obliged to support a 
whole family by teaching, by correcting proofs of the 
Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar kind. 
For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the 
satisfaction of my natural inclination. 

At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I 
observed in some stout Hebrew volumes, that they 
contained several alphabets, and that the number of their 
sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but 
that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third 
alphabet had also been employed, these being commonly 
Latin and German letters. Now, I had not the slightest 
idea of printing. I generally imagined that books were 
printed like linen, and that each page was an impression 
from a separate form. I presumed however that the 
characters, which stood in similar places, must represent 
one and the same letter, and as I had already heard 
something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, 
I supposed that, for example, a, standing in the same 
place as aleph^ must likewise be an aleph in sound. In 
this way I gradually learnt the Latin and German 
characters. 

By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various 
German letters into words ; but as the characters used 
along with the Hebrew letters might be something quite 
different from these, I remained always doubtful whether 



An Autobiography. 91 

the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in 
vain, till fortunately some leaves of an old German book 
fell into my hand. I began to read. How great were 
my joy and surprise, when I saw from the connection, 
that the words completely corresponded with those which 
I had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many 
of the words were unintelligible ; but from the connec- 
tion I was still able, with the omission of these words, to 
comprehend the whole pretty well.* 

This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still 
my peculiar method of comprehending and judging the 
thoughts of others ; and I maintain that no one can say 
he understands a book, as long as he finds himself com- 
pelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order 
and connection determined by him, and with the expres- 
sions which he has used. This is a mere work of memory, 
and no man can flatter himself with having comprehend- 
ed an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which he 
apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject 



* It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of deciphering, 
that led to the following outburst of sympathy :— " One day Maimon 
read in an English work, that the author had only commenced to 
learn the ABC when he was eighteen years of age, and that the 
first book which fell into his hands was one of Newton's works. 
His master (for he was a servant) came upon him at this task, and 
asked, ' What are you doing with that ? you can't read ?' ' O yes,' 
he replied, ' I have learnt to read, and I began with the most diffi- 
cult subjects.' Maimon read this in my presence with tears in his 
eyes." {Maimoniana, pp. 230-1). —7>a«j. 



Q 2 Solomon Maimon : 

himself, and to work it out for himself, though it may be 
under the impulse of another. This distinction between 
different kinds of understanding must be evident to any 
man of discernment. — For the same reason also I can 
understand a book only when the thoughts which it con- 
tains harmonise after filling up the gaps between them. 

I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. 
I could not completely satisfy my desire of scientific 
knowledge. Up to this time the study of the Talmud 
was still my chief occupation. With this however I 
found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls 
into action the higher powers of the mind; but I took 
no interest in its matter. It affords exercise in deducing 
the remotest consequences from their principles, in dis- 
covering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting out 
the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the princi- 
ples themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they 
cannot by any means satisfy a soul thirsting after know- 
ledge. 

I looked around therefore for something, by which I 
could supply this want. Now, I knew that there is a 
so-called science, which is somewhat in vogue among the 
Jewish scholars of this district, namely the Cabbalah, 
which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy 
his desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon 
perfection and closeness of communion with God. Na- 
turally therefore I burned with desire for this science. 
As however it cannot, on account of its sacredness, be 



An Autobiography. 93 

publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not 
know where to seek the initiated or their writings. 



f)4 Solomon Maivion 



CHAPTER XIV. 

I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician. 

Cabbalah, — to treat of this divine science somewhat 
more in detail, — means, in the wider sense of the term, 
traditio7i ; and it comprehends, not only the occult 
sciences which may not be pubhcly taught, but also the 
method of deducing new laws from the laws that are 
given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental 
laws which are said to have been delivered orally to 
Moses on Mount Sinai. In the narrower sense of the 
term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition of 
occult sciences. This is divided into theoretical and 
practical Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doc- 
trines of God, of His attributes which are expressed by 
means of His manifold names, of the origin of the world 
through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, 
and of the relation of all things to His supreme essence. 
The latter is the doctrine which teaches how to work 
upon nature at pleasure by means of those manifold 
names of God, which represent various modes of working 
upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred 
names are regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as 



An Aiiiobiograpliy. 95 

7iaiural signs, so that all that is done with these signs 
must have an influence on the object which they repre- 
sent. 

Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, 
physics, morals, politics, and such sciences, represented 
by means of symbols and hieroglyphs in fables and 
allegories, the occult meaning of which was disclosed 
only to those who were competent to understand it. By 
and by, however, perhaps as the result of many revolu- 
tions, this occult meaning was lost, and the signs were 
taken for the things signified. But as it was easy to 
perceive that these signs necessarily had meant some- 
thing, it was left to the imagination to invent an occult 
meaning which had long been lost. The remotest ana- 
logies between signs and things were seized, till at last 
the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of madness accord- 
ing to method^ or a systematic science resting on conceits. 
The big promise of its design, to work effects on nature 
at pleasure, the lofty strain and the pomp with which it 
announces itself, have naturally an extraordinary influ- 
ence on minds of the visionary type, that are unen- 
lightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough 
philosophy. 

The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is 
the Zohar, which is written in a very lofty style in the 
Syrian language. All other Cabbalistic writings are to 
be regarded as merely commentaries on this, or extracts 
from it. 



gS Solomon Maiinon : 

There are two main systems of the Cabbalah, — the 
system of Rabbi Moses Kordovero, and that of Rabbi 
Isaac Luria.* The former is more rea/, that is, it 
approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the 
other hand, is more formal, that is, it is completer in the 
structure of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer 
the latter, because they hold that only to be genuine 
Cabbalah, in which there is no rational meaning. The 
principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the Pardes 
(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some 
disconnected writings ; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim 
Vitall, wrote a large work under the title, Ez Chajmi 
(The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of his 
master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to 
be so sacred, that they do not allow it to be committed 
to print. Naturally, I had more taste for the Cabbalah 
of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, but durst 
not give utterance to my opinion on this point. 

After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I re- 
turn to my story. I learned that the under-rabbi or 
preacher of the place was an adept in the Cabbalah; and 
therefore, to attain my object, I made his acquaintance. 
I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I 



* Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth century. 
The former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain ; 
the latter, to the German community in Jerusalem {Josfs Geschichte 
ies /udenthums. Vol. iii., pp. \y]-\^o). — Trans, 



A 71 Autobiography. 97 

observed once that after prayer he always read from a 
small book, and then put it past carefully in its place, I 
became very curious to know what sort of book this was. 
Accordingly, after the preacher had gone home, I went 
and took the book from the place where he had put it ; 
and when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went 
with it and hid myself in a corner of the synagogue, till 
all the people had gone out and the door was locked. I 
then crept from my hiding-place, and, without a thought 
about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the 
fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened 
the synagogue again in the evening. 

Shaarei Kediishah^ or The Gates of Righteousness^ was 
the title of this book ; and, leaving out of account what 
was visionary and exaggerated, it contained the principal 
doctrines of psychology. I did with it therefore as the 
Talmudists say Rabbi Meir acted, who had a heretic for 
his teacher, *' He found a pomegranate ; he ate the fruit 
and threw the peel away." * 



* Rabbi Meir's teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of 
the Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr, Deutsch. 
The Talmud preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted 
affection which Meir continued to cherish for his apostate master. 
Four men, so runs the legend, entered Paradise ; that is, according 
to Talmudic symbolism, they entered upon the study of that secret 
science with its bewildering labyrinth of speculative dreams, through 
which it is given only to a few rare spirits to find their way. Of 
these four, "one beheld and died, one beheld and lost his senses, 
one destroyed the young plants, one only entered in peace and 



9$ SoiojHon Maimon : 

In two or three days I had in this way finished the 
book ; but instead of satisfying my curiosity, it only ex- 
cited it the more. I wished to read more books of the 
same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to 
the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I 
expressed my irresistible longing for this sazred science, 
and therefore entreated him earnestly to assist me with 
books. I received from him a very favourable answer. 
He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and assured 
me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an 
obvious sign that my soul was derived from Olam Aziloth 
(the world of the immediate divine influence), while the 
souls of mere Talmudists take their origin from Olam 
Jezirah (the world of the creation). He promised, there- 
fore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. 
But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, 
and required to have such books constantly at hand, he 



came out in peace." The destroyer of the young plants was Elisha 
ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the temple on the 
great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning like a 
dove," — "All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben 
Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death 
fla.mes hovered incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple 
threw himself upon it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, 
that he would not partake of the joys of heaven without his master, 
nor move from the spot until his master's soul had found forgiveness 
before the Throne of Grace. See Emanuel Deutsch's Literary 
Remains, p. 15 ; and Jest's Geschidite des /udenthums, Vol. ii., 
pp. 102-4. 



An AutobiograpJiy. 99 

could not lend them to me, but gave me permission to 
study them in his house at my pleasure. 

Who was gladder than I ! I accepted the offer of the 
preacher with gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and 
sat day and night over the Cnbbalistic books. Two 
representations especially gave me the greatest trouble. 
One was the Tree^ or the representation of the divine 
emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. 
The other was God's Beard^ in which the hairs are 
divided into numerous classes wuth something peculiar 
to each, and every hair is a separate channel of divine 
grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these 
representations any rational meaning. 

My prolonged visits however were extremely incon- 
venient to the preacher. He had, a short time before, 
married a pretty young wife ; and as his modest little 
house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once 
parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times 
reading the whole night, it happened not infrequently 
that my elevation above the sphere of sense came into 
collision with his sensibility. Consequently, he hit upon 
a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. 
He said to me one day, " I observe that it necessarily 
puts you to a great deal of inconvenience to spend your 
time constantly away from home for the sake of these 
books. You may take them home with you one by one 
if you please, and thus study them at your convenience." 

To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home 



I oo Solo7no7i Maimon : 

one book after another, and studied them till I believed 
that I had mastered the whole of the Cabbalah. I con- 
tented myself not merely with the knowledge of its 
principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make 
a proper use of these. There was not a passage to be 
met with in the Holy Scriptures or in the Talmud, the 
occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, 
according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest 
readiness. 

The book entitled Shaarei Orah * came to be of very 
good service here. In this book are enumerated the 
manifold names of the ten Sephiroth, which form the 
principal subject of the Talmud, so that a hundred or 
more names are given to each. In every word of a verse 
in the Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found 
therefore the name of some Sephirah. But as I knew 
the attribute of every Sephirah, and its relation to the 
rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of names 
their conjoint effect. 

To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book 
just mentioned, that the r\2imQ Jehovah represents the six 
highest Sephiroth (not including the first three), or the 
person of the Godhead generis niascuUni, while the word 
Koh means the Shechmah or the person of the Godhead 
generis fe)ni?iim, and the word a7?iar denotes sexual 



The Gates of Light. — Trans, 



An Autobiography. loi 

union. The words, " Koh amar Jehova,"* therefore, 
I explained in the following way, " Jehovah unites with 
the Shechinah," and this is high Cabbalism. Accord- 
ingly, when 1 read this passage in the Bible, I thought 
nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and 
thought their occult meaning, an actual union of these 
divine spouses took place, from which the whole world 
had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the excesses 
of imagination, when it is not guided by reason ? 

With the Cabbalah Maasith, or the practical Cabbalah, 
I did not succeed so well as with the theoretical. The 
preacher boasted, not publicly indeed, but to everybody 
in private, that he was master of this also. Especially he 
professed roeh veeno nireh (to see everything, but not to 
be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself 
invisible. 

About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that 
I might practise some wanton jokes on my comrades. 
More particularly I formed a plan for keeping my ill- 
tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I 
pretended that my object was merely to do good, and 
guard against evil. The preacher consented, but said at 
the same time, that on my part certain preparations were 
required. Three days in succession I was to feast, and 
every day to say some Ichudi7n. These are Cabbalistic 
forms of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at produc- 

* "Thus saith the Lord " in the English version. — Trans. 



I02 Solomon Maimon: 

ing in the intellectual world sexual unions, through 
means of which certain results are to be brought about 
in the physical. 

I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration 
which he had taught me, and believed with all confidence 
that I was now invisible. At once I hurried to the Beth 
Hamidrash, the Jewish academy, went up to one of my 
comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He 
however was no coward, and returned the blow with 
interest. I started back in astonishment ; I could not 
understand how he had been able to discover me, as I 
had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions 
of the preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, un- 
wittingly and unintentionally have neglected something. 
I resolved, therefore, to undertake the operation anew. 
This time, however, I was not going to venture on the 
test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely 
to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I 
entered, however, one of them came up to me, and 
showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, which he 
wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and 
disconsolate over the failure of my hopes. 

Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him 
of my unsuccessful attempt. Without blushing, he re- 
plied quite boldly, " If you have observed all my in- 
structions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by sup- 
posing that you arc unfit for being thus divested of the 
visibility of your body." With great grief, therefore, I 



A?i Autobiography. 103 

was obliged to give up entirely the hope of making my- 
self invisible. 

This disappointed hope was followed by a new delu- 
sion. In the preface to the Book of Raphael, which the 
angel of that name is said to have delivered to our first 
father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I found 
the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house 
is thereby insured against fire. It was not long, how- 
ever, before a conflagration broke out in the neighbour- 
hood, when the fire seized my house too, and the angel 
Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot 
of fire. 

Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, 
I sought to penetrate into its spirit ; and as I perceived 
that the whole science, if it is to deserve this name, can 
contain nothing but the secrets of nature concealed in 
fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these secrets, 
and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a 
rational knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish 
only in a very imperfect manner at the time, because I 
had yet very few ideas of the sciences in general. Still, 
by independent reflection I hit upon many applications 
of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once 
the first instance with which the Cabbalists commonly 
begin their science. 

It is this. Before the world was created, the divine 
being occupied the whole of infinite space alone. But 
God wished to create a world, in order that He might 



1 04 Solomon Maiinon : 

reveal those attributes of His nature which refer to other 
beings besides Himself For this purpose He contracted 
Himself into the centre of His perfection, and issued into 
the space thereby left void ten concentric circles of light, 
out of which arose afterwards manifold figures {Farzo- 
phim) and gradations down to the present world of sense. 

I could not in any way conceive that all this was to 
be taken in the common sense of the words, as nearly 
all Cabbalists represent it. As little could I conceive 
that, before the world had been created, a time had past, 
as I knew from my Moreh Nebhochim^ that time is a 
modification of the world, and consequently cannot be 
thought without it. Moreover, I could not conceive 
that God occupies a space, even though it be infinite ; 
or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should contract 
Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre. 

Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the follow- 
ing way. God is prior to the world, not in time, but in 
His necessary being as the condition of the world. All 
things besides God must depend on Him as their cause, 
in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The 
creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as 
a bringing forth out of nothings nor as a formation of 
something independent on God, but only as a bringing 
forth out of Himself. And as beings are of difi'erent 
grades of perfection, we must assume for their explana- 
tion different grades of limitation of the divine being. 
But since this limitation must be thought as extending 



An Autobiography. 105 

from the infinite being down to matter, we represent the 
beginning of the limitation in a figure as a centre (the 
lowest point) of the Infinite. 

In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded 
Spinozism, in which not only is the origin of the world 
explained by the hmitation of the divine being, but also 
the origin of every kind of being, and its relation to the 
rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, 
as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all 
beings, is called Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, con- 
sidered in itself, nothing can be predicated). But in re- 
lation to the infinite number of beings, positive attributes 
are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists 
to ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth. 

In the book, Fardes, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the 
question is discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be 
taken for the Deity Himself or not. It is easy to be 
seen, however, that this question has no more difficulty 
in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other 
being. 

Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories 
or predicaments of Aristotle, with which I had become 
acquainted in the Moreh Nebhochim, — the most universal 
predicates of things, without which nothing can be 
thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, 
are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a logical 
object, but to real objects in general, and without which 
these cannot be thought. They have their source, there- 

H 



I o6 Solomon Mai??io?i : 

fore, in the subject itself, but they become an object of 
consciousness only by reference to a real object. Con- 
sequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which be- 
long, indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the 
reality is revealed only by their special relation to, and 
effect upon, objects in nature, and the number of which 
can be variously determined in various points of view. 

But by this method of explanation I brought upon 
myself many an annoyance. For the Cabbalists main- 
tain that the Cabbalah is not a human, but a divine, 
science; and that, consequently, it would be degrada- 
tion of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with 
nature and reason. The more reasonable, therefore, my 
explanations proved, the more were the Cabbalists 
irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to 
be divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accord- 
ingly I had to keep my explanations to myself. An 
entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I brought with 
me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the 
struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of 
all the hindrances which are placed in its way. 

Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get 
an insight into the sciences, not as they are veiled in 
fables, but in their natural light. I had already, though 
very imperfectly, learned to read German ; but where 
was I to obtain German books in Lithuania ? Fortun- 
ately for me I learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbour- 
ing town, who in his youth had lived for a while in 



An Autobiography. 107 

Germany, and learned the German language there, and 
made himself in some measure acquainted with the 
sciences, continued still, though in secret, to work at the 
sciences, and had a fair library of German books. 

I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S , in 

order to see the chief rabbi, and beg of him a few 
scientific books. I was tolerably accustomed to such 
journeys, and had gone once thirty miles* on foot to see 
a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic 
philosophy. Without therefore troubling myself in the 
least about travelling expenses or means of conveyance, 
and without saying a word to my family on the subject, 
I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of 
winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the 
chief rabbi, told him my desire, and begged him earnestly 
for assistance. He was not a little astonished ; for, during 
the thirty one years which had passed since his return 
from Germany, not a single individual had ever made 
such a request. He promised to lend me some old 
German books. The most important among these were 
an old work on Optics, and Sturm's Physics. 

I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this 
excellent chief rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and 
returned home in rapture. After I had studied these 
books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I 
believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of 



* About 150 English miles. — Trans. 



io8 Solofjwn Maimon: 

nature, as I now knew the origin of storms, of dew, of 
rain, and such phenomena. I looked down with pride 
on all others, who did not yet know these things, laughed 
at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to 
clear up their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten 
their understanding. 

But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to 
teach a Talmudist, that the earth is round, and that we 
have antipodes. He however made the objection, that 
these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I endeavoured 
to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards 
any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre 
of the earth, and that the ideas of Over and Under re- 
present merely the removal from and approach to this 
centre. It was of no avail ; the Talmudist stood to his 
ground, that such an assertion was absurd. 

On another occasion I went to take a walk with some 
of my friends. It chanced that a goat lay in the way. I 
gave the goat some blows with my stick, and my friends 
blamed me for my cruelty. " What is the cruelty ? " 
I replied. '' Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, 
when I beat it ? You are greatly mistaken ; the goat is 
a mere machine." This was the doctrine of Sturm as a 
disciple of Descartes. 

My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, " But 
don't you hear that the goat cries, when you beat it ? " 
" Yes," I replied, " of course it cries ; but if you beat a 
drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my answer, 



An Autobiography. 109 

and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, 
that I had become mad, as I held that a goat is a drum. 

From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received 
afterwards two medical works, Kulm's Anatomical Tables 
and Voit's Gaziopilatiiwi. The latter is a large medical 
dictionary, containing, in a brief form, not only explana- 
tions from all departments of medicine, but also their 
manifold applications. In connection with every disease 
is given an explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and 
the method of its cure, along with even the ordinary 
prescriptions. This was for me a real treasure. I 
studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to 
be master of the science of medicine, and a complete 
physician. 

But I was not going to content myself with mere 
theory in this matter ; I resolved to make regular applica- 
tion of it. I visited patients, determined all diseases 
according to their circumstances and symptoms, ex- 
plained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for 
their cure. But in this practice things turned out very 
comically. If a patient told me some of the symptoms 
of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of the 
disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other 
symptoms. If the patient said that he could trace none 
of these, I stubbornly insisted on their being present all 
the same. The conversation therefore sometimes came 
to this : — 

J. " You have headache also." 



1 1 o Solomon Mavno7i : 

Patient " No." 

/. " But you must have headache." 

As many symptoms are common to several diseases, 
I took not infrequently quid pro quo. Prescriptions I 
could never keep in my head, so that, when I prescribed 
anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up my 
Gaziopilatium. At length I began even to make up 
drugs myself according to Voit's prescriptions. How 
this succeeded, may be imagined. It had at least this 
good result, that I saw something more was surely 
required for a practical physician than I understood at 
the time. 



Ah Autobiography, 



1 1 1 



CHAPTER XV. 



A brief Exposition of the Jewish Relij^ion, from its Origin down 
to the most recent Times. 



To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, 
which refers to my sentiments regarding religion, I must 
first give in advance a short practical history of the Jtiuish 
religion^ and at the outset say something of the idea of 
religion in general^ as well as of the difference between 
natural and positive religion. 

Religion in general is the expression of gratitude, 
reverence and the other feelings, which arise from the 
dependence of our weal and woe on one or more 
powers to us unknown. If we look to the expression of 
these feelijigs in general^ without regard to the particular 
mode of the expression, religion is certainly natural to man. 
He observes many effects which are of interest to him, 
but whose causes are to him unknown ; and he finds 
himself compelled, by the universally recognised Principle 
of Sufficient Reason, to suppose these causes, and to 
express towards them the feelings mentioned. 

This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity 
either with the imagination or with reason. For either 



112 



Solomon Maivion: 



man imagines the causes to be analogous to the effects, 
and ascribes to them in themselves such attributes as 
are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely 
as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to 
determine their attributes in themselves. These two 
modes are both natural to man, the former being in 
accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with that 
of his perfection. 

The difference between these two modes of representa- 
tion has as its consequence another difference of religions. 
The first mode of representation, in accordance with which 
the causes are supposed to be similar to the effects, is the 
mother of polytheisfji or heathenism. But the second is 
the basis of true religion. For as the kinds of effects 
are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, 
must be represented as different from one another. On 
the other hand, if, in accordance with truth, we conceive 
the idea of cause in general for these effects, without 
seeking to determine this cause, either /;z fe^ (since it 
is wholly unknown), or analogically by help of the 
imagination, then we have no ground for supposing 
several causes, but require to assume merely a single 
subject, wholly unknown, as cause of all these effects. 

The different philosophical systems of theology are 
nothing but detailed developments of these different modes 
of representation. The atheistic system of theology, if so 
it may be called, rejects altogether this idea of a first 
cause, (as, according to the critical system at least, it is 



An Autobiography. 1 1 3 

merely of regulative use as a necessary idea of reason). 
All effects are referred to particular known or unknown 
causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a co?i- 
nection between the various effects, else the reason of this 
connection would require to be sought beyond the 
connection itself. 

The Spinozistic system, on the contrary, supposes one 
and the same substance as immediate cause of all 
various effects, which must be regarded as predicates of 
one and the same subject. Matter and 7ni7id are, with 
Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, 
now under the former, now under the latter attribute. 
This single substance is, according to him, not only the 
sole being that can be self-dependent, that is, independent 
of any external cause, but also the sole self sub sistent 
being, all so-called beings besides it being merely its 
7}iodeSi that is, particular limitations of its attributes. 
Every particular effect in nature is referred by him, not 
to its proximate cause (which is merely a mode), but 
immediately to this first cause, which is the common 
substance of all beings. 

In this system unity is real, but multiplicity is merely 
ideal. In the atheistic system it is the opposite. Mul- 
tiplicity is real, being founded on the nature of things 
themselves. On the other hand, the unity, which is 
observed in the order and regularity of nature, is merely 
an accident, by which we are accustomed to determine 
our arbitrary system for the sake of knowledge. It is 



114 



Solomon Matmon 



inconceivable therefore how any one can make out the 
Spinozistic system to be atheistic, since the two systems 
are diametrically opposed to one another. In the latter 
the existence of God is denied, but in the former the 
existence of the world. Spinoza's ought therefore to be 
called rather the acosmic system. 

The Leibfiitzian system holds the mean between the 
two preceding. In it all particular effects are referred 
immediately to particular' causes ; but these various 
effects are thought as cofinected in a single system, and 
the cause of this connection is sought in a being beyond 
itself. 

Positive religion is distinguished from natural in the 
very same way as the positive laws of a state from 
natural laws. The latter are those which rest on a 
self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly 
defined in regard to their application, while the former 
rest on a distinct knowledge received from others, and 
are completely defined in regard to their application. 

A positive religion however must be carefully distin- 
guished from a political religion. The former has for its 
end merely the correction and accurate definition of 
knowledge, that is, instruction regarding the first cause : 
and the knowledge is communicated to another, accord- 
ing to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been 
received. But the latter has for its end mainly the 
welfare of the state. Knowledge is therefore communi- 
cated, not just as it has been received, but only in so far 



An Autobiography. 115 

as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely 
as politics, requires to concern itself about true religion 
as little as about true ?noralify. The injury, that might 
arise from this, can be prevented by other means which 
influence men at the same time, and thus all can be kept 
in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at 
the same time positive, but every positive religion is not 
also political. 

Natural religion has no mysteries any more than merely 
positive religion. For there is no mystery implied in 
one man being unable to communicate his knowledge to 
another of defective capacity wnth the same degree of 
completeness which he himself has attained ; otherwise 
mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and 
there would then be mysteries of ??iathematics as well as 
mysteries of religion. Only political religion can have 
mysteries, in order to lead men in an indirect way to the 
attainment of \hQ political end^ inasmuch as they are made 
to believe that thereby they can best attain their private 
ends, though this is not always in reality the case. 
There are lesser and greater mysteries in the political 
religions. The former consist in the material knowledge 
of all particular operations and their connection with 
one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the 
knowledge of the form, that is, of the end by which the 
former are determined. The former constitute the 
totality of the laws of religion, but the latter contains the 
spirit of the laws. 



1 1 6 Solomon Maiinon : 

The Jeivish religion^ even at its earliest origin among 
the nomadic patriarchs, is already distinguished from the 
heathe7i as natural religion^ inasmuch as, instead of the 
many comprehensible gods of heathenism, the unify of an 
incoinprehensible God lies at its foundation. For as the 
particular causes of the effects, which in general give 
rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do 
not feel justified in transferring to the causes the 
attributes of the particular effects, in order thereby to 
characterise them, there remains nothing but the idea of 
cause in general, which must be related to all effects 
without distinction. This cause cannot even be atialogi- 
cally determined by the effects. For the effects are 
opposed to one another, and neutralise each other even 
in the same object. If therefore we ascribed them all 
to one and the same cause, the cause could not be 
analogically determined by any. 

The heatheyi religion, on the other hand, refers every 
kind of effect to a special cause, which can of course be 
characterised by its effect. As a positive religion the 
Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by the fact, 
that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a religion 
which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to 
true knowledge and private interest) ; but in accordance 
with the spirit of its founder, it is adapted to the 
theocratic form of the national Government, which rests 
on the principle, that only the true religion, based on 
rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of 



An Autobiography. 117 

the state as well as of the individual. Considered in its 
purity^ therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense 
of the word ; that is to say, it has no doctrines which, 
in order to reach their end, men will not disclose, but 
merely such as ca?i not be disclosed to all. 

After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was 
separated from the state which no longer existed. The 
religious authorities were no longer, as they had been 
before, concerned about adapting the particular institu- 
tions of religion to the state ; but their care went merely 
to preserve the religion, on which the existence of the 
jiation now depended. Moved by hatred towards those 
nations who had annihilated the state, and from anxiety 
lest with the fall of the state the religion also might fall, 
they hit upon the following means for the preservation 
and extension of their religion. 

1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, 
of expanding the laws, and applying them to particular 
cases. This method is not that which reason enjoins, of 
modifying laws according to their intention, in adaptation 
to time and circumstances, but that wriich rests upon 
certain rules concerning their literary expression. 

2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions 
and opinions obtained by this method, giving to them an 
equal rank with the ancient laws. The subtle dialectic, 
with which this has been carried on down to our times, 
and the vast number of laws, customs and useless 



1 1 8 Solomon Mainwn : 

ceremonies of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be 
easily imagined. 

The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence 
of this, be appropriately divided into five great epochs. 
The first epoch embraces the natural religion^ from the 
times of the patriarchs down to Moses at the exodus 
from Egypt. The second comprehends the positive or 
revealed religion, from Moses to the time of the Great 
Synagogue {^Keneseth HaggedolaJi). This council must 
not be conceived as an assembly of theologians at a 
definite time ; the name applies to the theologians of a 
whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to 
the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were 
the minor prophets (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., 
of whom 1 20 are counted altogether), and the last was 
Simon the Just* These, as well as their forerunners 
from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the Mosaic 
laws, and added new laws according to time and 
circumstances, but in conformity with the traditional 
method, every dispute on the subject being decided by 
the majority of voices. 

The third epoch extends from the composition of the 
Mishnah by Jehudah the Saint f to the composition of 



* Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, the 
first half of the third century before Christ. — Trans. 

t Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably 
in 219 or 220 A. D. — Trans. 



An Autobiography. 1 1 9 

the Talmud by Rabina and Rabassi. * Down to this 
epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to writing, 
in order that they might not fall into the hands of those 
who could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah 
Hanassi, or, as he is otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades 
observed, that, in consequence of their great multiplicity, 
the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he gave himself a 
licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order to 
preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that 
against committing the laws to writing ; and in this 
licence he defended himself by a passage in the Psalms, 
''There are times, when a man shows himself well- 
pleasing to God by transgressing the laws." f He lived 
in the time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed 
all the faculties for such an undertaking. He therefore 
composed the Mishnah, in which he delivers the Mosaic 
laws in accordance either with a traditional or with a 
rational method of exposition. It contains also some 
laws which form the subject of dispute. 

This work is divided into six parts. The first contains 
the laws relating to agriculture and horticulture; the 



* Rabbina is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and Rabassi for 
Rabbi Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of 
the two. They both belonged to the fifth century.— T/a//^. 

t This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our Authorised 
Version:—" It is time for thee, Lord, to work ; for they have 
made void thy law." See Mendelssohn's /.?r«ja/^///, Vol. ii., p. 
iii., (Samuels' translation). — Trawj. 



I20 Solomon Maimon: 

second, those which refer to feasts and hoHdays. The 
third part comprehends the laws which define the mutual 
relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such 
subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which 
deal with the teachers of the law ; the fifth, to those 
which treat of the temple-service and sacrifices ; and the 
sixth, to the laws of purification. 

As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, 
and cannot be understood without a commentary, it was 
natural, that in course of time doubts and disputes 
should arise, regarding the exposition of the Mishnah 
itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases 
which it does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts 
and their manifold solutions, controversies and decisions, 
were finally collected in the Talmud by the above- 
mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the fourth 
epoch of Jewish legislation. 

The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the 
Talmud, and extends down to our time, and so on for 
ever {si diis placet) till the advent of the Messiah. Since 
the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been by 
no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in 
the Mishnah or the Talmud ; but they still have plenty 
of work to do. Their business is to explain those two 
works, so that they shall harmonise ; and this is no small 
matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always 
finding contradictions in the explanations of another. 
They must also disentangle, from the labyrinth of various 



An Autobiography. I2i 

opinions, expositions, controversies and decisions, the 
laws which are applicable to every case ; and finally for 
new cases, by inferences from those already known, they 
must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in 
spite of all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete 
code of laws. 

It is thus that a religion, in its origin natural and con- 
formable to reason^ has been abused. A Jew dare not eat 
or drink, lie with his wife or attend to the wants of 
nature, without observing an enormous number of laws. 
With the books on the slaughter of animals alone (the 
condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) 
a whole library could be filled, which certainly would 
come near to the Alexandrian in extent. And what shall 
I say of the enormous number of books treating of those 
laws which are no longer in use, such as the laws of 
sacrifice, of purification, etc. ? The pen falls from my 
hand, when I remember that I and others like me were 
obliged to spend in this soul-killing business the best 
days of our lives when the powers are in their full vigour, 
and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some 
sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the 
discovery of contradictions where none were to be found, 
to display acuteness in removing them where they were 
obviously to be met, to hunt after a shadow through a 
long series of arguments, and to build castles in the air. 

The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold 

source. 

I 



122 Solomon Maimon: 

1. The first is an artificial method of expounding the 
Holy Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the 
natural method by the fact, that, while the latter rests 
on a thorough k?iowledge of the language and the true 
spirit of the legislator in view of the circumstances of the 
time, as these are known from history, the former has 
been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet 
existing emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy 
Scriptures, not only as the source of the fundamental 
laws of Moses, and of those which are deducible from 
these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the 
laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the 
wants of the time. The artificial method here, Hke every 
other of the same kind, is merely a means of bringing 
the new laws at least into an external connection with the 
old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduc- 
tion among the people, be reduced to principles, divided 
into classes, and therefore more easily impressed on the 
memory. No reasonable rabbi will hold, that the laws, 
which are referred in this way to passages of the Holy 
Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages ; but 
if questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws 
are necessities of the time, and are referred to those 
passages merely for this reason." 

2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is 
to be found in the manners and customs of other nations, 
in whose neighbourhood the Jews have lived, or among 
whom they have been gradually scattered since the fall 



An Autobiography. 123 

of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they 
were obliged to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects 
of abhorrence. Of this sort are the laws, not to uncover 
the head (at least in holy places and at holy ceremonies), 
to wash the ha?ids (before meals and prayers), to fast the 
whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, 
to make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc., — all 
manifestly oi Arabian origin. 

From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed 
the Jewish state, an,d afterwards made the Jews undergo 
manifold oppressions, they have adopted various customs, 
and among others many religious usages which are 
opposite to those of the Greeks and Romans. 

In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves 
for a model, these being sometimes in agreement, some- 
times in hostility, with the Egyptian laws which lie at 
their root, as has been shown in the most thorough 
manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, Moreh 
Nebhochim. 

It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagan- 
cies in the practical department, namely the laws and 
customs, the theoretical ^t^2.x\.mtvi\. of the Jewish theology 
has still always preserved itself in its purity. Eisenmenger 
may say what he will, it may be shown by unanswerable 
arguments, that all the limited figurative representations 
of God and His attributes have their source merely in an 
endeavour to adapt the ideas of theology to the common 
understanding. The rabbis followed in this the principle 



124 Solomon Maimon : 

which they had established in reference to the Holy 
Scriptures themselves, namely, that the Holy Scriptures 
use the language of the cojnmon people^ inasmuch as 
religious and moral sentiments and actions, which form 
the immediate aim of theology may in this manner be 
most easily extended. They therefore represent God to 
the common understanding as an earthly King, who 
with His ministers and the advisers of His cabinet, the 
angels, takes counsel concerning the government of the 
world. But for the educated mind they seek to take 
away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when 
they say, " It was an act of high daring on the part of 
the prophets, to represent the Creator as like His creature, 
as when, for example, it is said in Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And 
upon the throne was an appearance like man.' " 

I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to 
religion without any partiality. At the same time however 
I must not be silent about their good qualities, but do 
them justice as impartially. Compare then Mahomed's 
description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical 
representation. The former runs: — " Here (in paradise) 
there are as many dishes as there are stars in heaven. 
Maidens and boys fill the cups, and wait on the table. 
The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. If 
one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the 
air by night, the world would become as bright as when 
the sun is shining ; and if she were to spit into the sea, 
its salt water would be turned into honey, and its bitter 



An Autobiography. 125 

into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the rivers 
which water this delicious abode. The slime of these 
rivers will be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their 
pebbles of pearls and hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will 
open the gates of paradise to faithful Musselmans. The 
first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of diamonds 
of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 
days to run round it. The chairs, which stand around 
the table, will be of gold and silver, the tablecloths of 
silk and gold. When the guests have sat down, they 
will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its 
water. AVhen they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring 
them green garments of costly stuff", and necklaces and 
earrings of gold. To every one will then be given a 
citron; and when he has brought it to his nose to 
feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come 
out. Every one will embrace his own with rapture, and 
this intoxication of love will last fifty years without 
interruption. Each couple will obtain an enchanting 
palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and 
enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.*" This 
description is beautiful ; but how sensuous ! The rabbis, 
on the other hand, say, " Above (in the blessed abode of 
the pious) there is neither eating nor drinking, but the 
pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the vision 
of the Godhead." 



CharakUristik der Asiatischen Nationm, Theil ii., pp. 159-160. 



126 Solomon Maimon : 

Eisenmenger seeks, in his Entdecktes Judenthiim 
(Theil I., Kap. 8), by a crass exposition to throw ridicule 
on the Platonic doctrine of reminiscence, which the 
rabbis maintain ; but what may not be made ridiculous in 
the same way ? He also makes sport, with equal in- 
justice, of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, 
for example, the rabbis call wise men Kings ; they say, 
that God does nothing without previously taking counsel 
with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works upon nature 
not immediately, but by means of the natural forces ; 
they teach, that everything is predestined by God, except 
the practice of virtue. These are the subjects of Eisen- 
menger's mockery ; but does any reasonable theologian 
find in these anything ridiculous or impious ? I should 
be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all 
the unjust charges and jeers which have been brought 
against the Talmudists, not by Christian writers alone, 
but even by Jews who wished to pass for illuminati. 

To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate 
into the true spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly 
familiar with the manner in which the ancients generally, 
but especially the Orientals, deliver theological, moral^ 
and even physical truths in fables and allegories, to 
become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole 
in reference to everything that can be of interest to man. 
Moreover, the rabbis should be treated in the spirit in 
which they themselves excused Rabbi Meir who had a 
heretic for his teacher, — the spirit expressed in a passage 



A?i Autobiography. 127 

already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, 
the Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities 
which its opponents are disposed too readily to find. 

The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or 
practical truths, even by the oddest exegesis, to 
passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other book in 
general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such 
passages by a rational exegesis, — this method, besides 
procuring an introduction for the truths among common 
men, who are not capable of grasping them on their own 
merits, and accept them merely on authority, is also to 
be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory ; for since, 
as presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, 
the truths drawn from them are also retained by their 
means. Consequently it very often occurs in the Talmud, 
when the question concerns the deduction of a new law 
from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law 
from this or that passage, while another brings the 
objection, that this cannot be the true meaning of the 
passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or that. 
To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it 
is a new law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the 
passage mentioned. 

As it is therefore universally presupposed that this 
method is familiar, the Talmudists regard it as unneces- 
sary to inculcate it anew on every occasion. A single 
example will suffice to illustrate this. One Talmudist 
asked another the meaning of the following passage in 



128 Solomon Maivion : ' 

the Book of Joshua (xv., 22), Kinah Vediinonah Vead- 
adah* The latter repHed, " Here are enumerated the 
then famihar places of the Holy Land." " Of course ! " 
rejoined the other. " I know very well that these are 

names of places. But, Rabbi knows how to bring 

out of these, besides the proper meaning, something use- 
ful, namely this : — ' (Kinah) He to whom his neighbour 
gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who yet, 
out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, 
(Veadadah) to him will the Eternal execute justice.'" 
What a fine opportunity this would be for laughing at 
the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral sentence from 
particular names of places, and besides makes in an 
extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, 
Sansannah,\ if he had not himself explained that he is 
seeking to know, not the true meaning of the passage, 
but merely a doctrine which may be referred to it. 

Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in 
Isaiah the important doctrine, that in morals the princi- 
pal object is, not theory, but practice, by which theory 
receives its true value. The passage runs as follows : — 
"The expectation of thy happiness " — that is, the happi- 



*"And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah " in the English 
Authorised Version. — Trans. 

t Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget the 
passage he had selected for illustration ; and his eye, if not his 
memory, glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse 22. 
— Trans. 



An Autobiography. 129 

ness promised by the prophet — " will have for its conse- 
quence strength, help, wisdom, knowledge, and the fear 
of God." * Here they refer the first six subjects to the 
six Sedarim or divisions of the Mishnah, which are the 
foundation of all Jewish learning. Emunath (Expecta- 
tion) is Seder Seraim ; Etecho (Happiness) is Seder 
Moad, and so on. That is to say, you may be ever so 
well versed in all these six sedarim : yet the main point 
is the last, the fear of God. 

As far as rabbinical morals in otlier respects are con- 
cerned, I know in truth nothing that can be urged 
against them, except perhaps their excessive strictness in 
many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, but 
without excluding other serviceable principles, such as 
perfection, universal benevolence, and the like. Holi- 
ness with them extends even to the thoughts. This 
principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the follow- 
ing passage in the Psalms, " Thou shalt have no strange 
God in thee " ; t for in the human heart, it is argued, no 
strange God can dwell, except evil desires. It is not 
allowed to deceive even a heathen either by deeds or by 
words — not even in cases where he could lose nothing 
by the deceit. For example, the common form of cour- 
tesy, " I am glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it 
does not express the real sentiments of the heart. The 



* Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6. — Trans. 
+ Psalm, Ixxxi., 9. — Trans. 



130 Solomon Maimon: 

examples of Jews who cheat Christians and heathens, 
which are commonly adduced against this statement, 
prove nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in 
accordance with the principles of their own morals. 

The commandment, " Thou shalt not covet anything 
that is thy neighbour's," is so expounded by the Tal- 
mudists, that we must guard against even the wish to 
possess any such thing. In short, I should require to 
write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent 
doctrines of rabbinical morals. 

The influence of these doctrines in practical life also 
is unmistakable. The Polish Jews, who have always 
been allowed to adopt any means of gain, and have not, 
like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to the 
pitiful occupation of Schacher or usurer, seldom hear the 
reproach of cheating. They remain loyal to the country 
in which they live, and support themselves in an honour- 
able way. 

Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions 
for nursing the sick, their special societies for burial of 
the dead, are well enough known. It is not nurses and 
grave-diggers hired for money ^ but the elders of the people^ 
who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish Jews 
are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by 
science, their manners and way of life are still rude ; but 
they are loyal to the religion of their fathers and the 
laws of their country. They do not come before you 
with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are 



An Autobiography. 131 

not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares 
with them. Womnn, indeed, after the manner of the 
Orientals in general, is by them not particularly es- 
teemed ; l)ut all the more on that account are they re- 
solved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their 
children do not learn by heart any forms for expressing 
love and respect for their parents — for they do not keep 
French de??ioiselles ; — but they show that love and re- 
spect all the more heartily. 

The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh 
tenderness which arises from this, deserve especially to 
be mentioned. Every month the husband is wholly 
separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of 
monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical 
laws) ; they may not so much as touch one another, or 
eat out of the same dish or drink out of the same cup. 
By this means satiety is avoided ; the wife continues to 
be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden 
in the eyes of her lover. 

Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried per- 
sons ! It often happens that a young man or woman of 
sixteen or eighteen years is married without knowing 
the least about the object of marriage. Among other 
nations this is certainly very seldom the case. 



132 Solomon Mawion: 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Jewish Piety and Penances. 

In my youth I was of a somewhat strong rehgious dis- 
position ; and as I observed in most of the rabbis a good 
deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, and other evil qualities, 
they became objects of disHke to me on that account. 
I sought therefore as my model only those among them, 
who are commonly known by the name of Chasidim^ or 
the Pious. These are they who devote the whole of 
their lives to the strictest observances of the laws and 
moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that 
these on their part do harm, less indeed to others, but 
all the more to themselves, inasmuch as they root out 
the wheat with the tares ; * while they seek to suppress 
their desires and passions, they suppress also their 
powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most 
cases by their exercises to bring upon themselves an un- 
timely death. 

Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye- 
witness, will be sufficient to establish what has been said. 

* In the original, '* Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschiitten." — Trans, 



An Atitobiography. 133 

A Jewish scholar, at that time well known on account of 
his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone the severest 
exercises of penance. He had already carried out the 
Tshubath Hakana — the penance of Kana — which con- 
sists in fasting daily for six years, and avoiding for sup- 
per anything that comes from a living being (flesh, milk, 
honey, etc.). He had also practised Golath, that is, a 
continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not 
allowed to remain two days in the same place ; and, in 
addition, he had worn a hair-shirt next his skin. But 
he felt that he would not be doing enough for the satis- 
faction of his conscience unless he further observed the 
Tshubath Hamishkal—'dx^ penance of weighing — which 
requires a particular form of penance proportioned to 
every sin. But as he found by calculation, that the 
number of his sins was too great to be atoned in this 
way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. 
After he had spent some time in this process, he came 
in his wanderings to the place where my father lived, 
and, without anybody in the house knowing, went into 
the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faint- 
ness. My father came by chance into the barn, and 
found the man, whom he had long known, lying half- 
dead on the ground, with a Zohar (the principal book of 
the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort 
of man this was, he brought him at once all sorts of re- 
freshments ; but the man would make no use of them in 
any way. My father came several times, and repeated 



134 Solomon Maimon : 

his urgent request, that Simon would take something ; 
but it was of no avail. My father had to attend to 
something in the house, whereupon Simon, to escape 
from his importunity, exerted all his strength, raised 
himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of the 
village. When my father came back into the barn 
again, and found the man no longer there, he ran after 
him, and found him lying dead not far from the village. 
The affair was generally made known among the Jews, 
and Simon became a saint. 

Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten 
the advent of the Messiah. To this end he performed 
strict penance, fasted, rolled himself in snow, undertook 
night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of such 
operations he believed that he was able to accomplish 
the overthrow of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard 
on the Messiah, and threw obstacles in the way of his 
coming.* To these exercises he added at last many 
Cabbalistic fooleries — fumigations, conjurations, and 
similar practices — till at length he lost his wits on the 
subject, believed that he really saw spirits with his eyes 
open, calling each of them by name. He would then 



* In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the 
city of Lemberg, against which he was enraged ; and for this pur- 
pose he placed himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the 
city with his body. The result of the blockade, however, was that 
he nearly died of hunger, while the city knew nothing whatever of 
a famine. 



An Autobiography. 135 

beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the 
idea that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat 
after the manner of his forerunner Don Quixote. At last 
he lay down in complete exhaustion, from which he was 
with great difficulty restored, by the physician of Prince 
Radzivil. 

Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exer- 
cises of this sort, than to abstain for a considerable while 
from everything that comes from a living being ; and 
during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted 
three days together. I once resolved indeed on under- 
taking the T^shubath Hakaiia ; but this project, like 
others of the same sort, remained unfulfilled, after I had 
adopted the opinions of Maimonides, who was no friend 
of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at the 
time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations 
with the utmost strictness, I yet would not observe cer- 
tain ceremonies which have something comical about 
them. Of this kind, for example, was the Malketh 
(Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which 
every Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, 
while another with a narrow strip of leather gives him 
thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort is Haphorath 
Nedarim^ or the act of setting free from vows on New 
Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another 
appears before them, and addresses to them a certain 
form, the general drift of which is as follows : — " Sirs, I 
know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil vows ; and in- 



136 Solomon Maimon: 

asmuch as I have doubtless this year made some vows 
which I have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer re- 
collect, I beg of you that you will set me free from the 
same. I do not indeed repent of the good resolutions 
to which I have bound myself by these vows ; I repent 
merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did 
not add, that they were not to have the force of a vow," 
etc., etc. Thereupon he withdraws from the judgment- 
seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on the bare 
ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till 
his vows are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, 
and said a prayer by himself, the judges begin to call 
aloud, " Thou art our brother ! thou art our brother ! 
thou art our brother ! There is no vow, no oath, no 
banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself 
to the judgment. Rise from the ground and come to 
us ! " This they repeat three times, and with that the 
man is at once set free from all his vows. 

At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with 
the greatest difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of 
shame came over me, when I was to undertake such per- 
formances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed on the 
subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either 
already attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in 
another synagogue. A very remarkable psychological 
phenomenon ! It might be thought impossible for any 
one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others per- 
forming without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this 



An Autobiography. 137 

was the case here. This phenomenon can be explained 
only by the fact, that in all my actions I had regard first 
to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was right 
or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in rela- 
tion to some end, and that I justified it as a means, only 
when it was not in itself incapable of being justified. 
This principle was developed afterwards in my whole 
system of religion and morals. On the other hand, the 
most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies 
the means. 



138 Solomon Mainion 



V 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Friendship and Enthusiasm. 



In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, 
Moses Lapidoth by name. We were of the same age, 
the same studies, and nearly the same external circum- 
stances, the only difference being, that at an early period 
I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while 
Lapidoth had indeed a love of speculation, and also 
great acuteness and power of judgment, but had no wish 
to proceed further than he could reach by a mere sound 
common sense. With this friend I used to hold many 
a conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially 
the questions of religion and morals. 

We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to 
be not mere imitators, but to think independently about 
everything. It was a natural result of this, that, as we 
differed from all the rest of the community in our 
opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them 
by degrees ; but, as we had still to live by the community, 
our circumstances on this account became every day 
worse and worse. 'Tis true, we noted this fact, but 
nevertheless we were unwilling to sacrifice our favourite 



An Autobiography. 139 

inclinations for any interest in the world. We consoled 
ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke 
constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and 
moral faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked 
down with a sort of noble pride and contempt. 

We used especially to open our minds, a la Mande- 
ville^ on the hollowness of human virtue. For example, 
smallpox had been very prevalent in the place, and 
thereby many children had been carried off. The elders 
held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of 
which they were suffering this punishment, as they 
viewed it. After instituting an inquiry it was found, that 
a young widow of the Jewish people was holding too 
free intercourse wath some servants of the manor. She 
was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from 
her anything beyond the fact, that these people were in 
the habit of drinking mead at her house, and that, as 
was reasonable, she received them in a pleasant and po- 
lite manner, but that in other respects she was uncon- 
scious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence 
was forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when 
an elderly matron came flying like a fury and screamed, 
" Scourge her ! scourge her ! till she has confessed her 
sin ! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the 
death of so many innocent souls fall upon you ! " Lapi- 
doth was present with me at this scene, and said, 
"Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so 
fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because 



j^o Solomon Maimon : 

she is seized with a holy zeal and feeling for the general 
welfare ? Oh no ! She is enraged, merely because the 
widow still possesses attractions, while she herself can no 
longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opin- 
ion was thoroughly in accordance with my own. 

Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law 
was Jewish sexton, and by his slender pay could support 
his family only in a very sorry style. Every Friday the 
poor man was therefore compelled to listen to all sorts 
of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could 
not provide her with what was indispensable for the holy 
Sabbath. Lapidoth told me about this with the addi- 
tion : — " My mother-in-law wants to make me to believe 
that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy 
Sabbath. Nay, verily ; she is zealous merely for the 
honour of her own holy paunch, which she cannot fill as 
she would like ; the holy Sabbath serves her merely as 
a pretext." 

Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round 
the town, and conversing about the tendency of men, 
which is evinced in such expressions, to deceive them- 
selves and others, I said to Lapidoth, " Friend, let us be 
fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as on 
others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and 
which is by no means adapted to our circumstances, to 
be regarded as a result of our indolence and inclination 
to idleness, which we seek to defend by reflections on 
the vanity of all things? We are content with our pre- 



An Autobiography. 141 

sent circumstances ; why ? Because we cannot alter 
them without first fighting against our inclination to idle- 
ness. With all our pretence of contempt for everything 
outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish to be able 
to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We 
reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the plea- 
sures of sense, because they have abandoned our mode 
of life, and undertaken occupations adapted to their 
powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, 
when we merely follow our inclination as they follow 
theirs ? Let us seek to find this superiority merely in the 
fact, that we at least confess this truth to ourselves, while 
they profess as the motive of their actions, not the satis- 
faction of their own particular desires, but the impulse to 
general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced 
a powerful impression, answered with some warmth, 
" Friend, you are perfectly right. If we cannot now 
mend our faults, we will not deceive ourselves about 
them, but at least keep the way open for amendment." 

In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our 
pleasantest hours, while we made ourselves merry some- 
times at the expense of the world, sometimes at our own. 
Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had all 
fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly 
parted from the rest of his coat, while he was not in a 
position even to have it mended, used to fix the sleeve 
on his back with a pin, and to ask me, " Don't I look 
like a Schlachziz (a Pohsh noble)? " I, again, could not 



,^, Solo?non Maimon : 

sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite 
open at the toes, because, as I said, "They do not 
squeeze the foot." 

The harmony of our incHnations and manner of Hfe, 
along with some difference in our talents, made our con- 
versation all the more agreeable. I had more talent 
for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after 
thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. 
He, on the other hand, had the advantage of a lively 
imagination, and consequently more talent for eloquence 
and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my 
friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give 
it embodiment in a multitude of examples. Our affection 
for one another went so far, that, whenever it was prac- 
ticable, we spent day and night in each other's company, 
and the first thing we did, on returning home from the 
places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to 
visit each other, even before seeing our own families. At 
last we began to neglect on this account the usual hours 
of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to prove, that the 
Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not ex- 
clusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study- 
chambers. Afterwards he pointed out also, that the 
prayers held to be necessary are not all equally so, but 
that some may be dispensed with altogether: even those, 
which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by 
degrees, till at last they were totally neglected. 

Once, wiicn we went for a walk on the wall during the 



/ 

An AiitobiograpJiy, 143 

hour of prayer, Lapidoth said to me, " Friend, what is 
going to become of us? We do not pray now at all." 

" What do you mean by that? " I inquired. 

" I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of 
God, who certainly will not punish his children severely 
for a slight neglect." 

" God is not merely inerciful^^ I replied ; " He is also 
just. Consequently this reason cannot help us much." 

" What do you mean by that ? " asked Lapidoth. 

I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more 
accurate ideas of God and of our duties towards Him. 
Accordingly I replied, " Our destination is merely the 
atiammeni of perfection iht'ongh the knowledge of God atid 
the imitation of His actions. Prayer is simply the ex- 
pression of our knowledge of the divine perfections, and, 
as a result of this knowledge, is intended merely for the 
common man who cannot of himself attain to this know- 
ledge ; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of con- 
ception. But as we see into the end of prayer, and can 
attain to this end directly, we can dispense altogether 
with prayer as something superfluous." 

This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We 
resolved therefore, for the purpose of avoiding offence, 
to go out of the house every morning with our Taleth 
and TephilitJi (Jewish instruments of prayer), not, how- 
ever, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the 
wall, and by this means we fortunately escaped the 
Jewish Inquisition. 



144 Solo mo ft MaijHon : 

But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything 
else in the world, had to come to an end. As we were 
both married, and our marriages were tolerably fruitful, 
wc were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our fami- 
lies, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means 
wc were not infrequently separated, and afterwards were 
able to spend merely a few weeks in the year together. 



A?i Autobiography. 145 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Life of a Family-Tutor. 

The place, where I first occupied the position of family- 
tutor, was at the distance of a league from my residence. 
The family was that of a miserable farmer in a still more 
miserable village ; and my salary was five thalers in 
Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in 
the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were 
indescribable. The farmer himself was a man of about 
fifty years, the whole of whose face was overgrown with 
hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as pitch. His 
language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the 
boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only 
was he ignorant of Hebrew, but he could not speak a 
word of Jewish ; his only language was Russian, the com- 
mon patois of the peasantry. His wife and children 
were of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in 
which they lived, was a hovel of smoke, black as coal 
inside and out, without a chimney, but with merely a 
small opening in the roof for the exit of the smoke,— an 
opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire 
was allowed to go out, so that the heat might not escape. 



J ^6 Soioriwfi Mavnon: 

The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise 
over each other, and covered with paper. This apart- 
ment served at once for sitting, drinking, eating, study 
and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, and the 
smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by 
wind and rain till the whole place is filled with it to 
suffocation. Here hang a foul washing and other dirty 
bits of clothing on poles laid across the room in order to 
kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang sausages to 
dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on 
the heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour 
cabbage and red beets, which form the principal food of 
the Lithuanians. In a corner the water is kept for daily 
use, with the dirty water alongside. In this room the 
bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow 
is milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on. 

In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the 
bare ground ; you dare not sit higher if you do not wish 
to be suffocated with the smoke. Here they guzzle their 
whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of the 
house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind 
the stove with my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded 
to them out of an old tattered Bible, from Hebrew into 
Russian Jewish. All this together made such a splen- 
did group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, 
and to be sung only by a Butler. 

It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition 
here must have been. Whiskey had to form my sole com- 



An Autobiography. 147 

fort ; it made me forget all my misery. This was in- 
creased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who 
were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty 
on the estates of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the 
village and its neighbourhood. The house was constantly 
full of drunken Russians, who committed all sorts of ex- 
cesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses 
and bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and 
so on. To give merely one example, a Russian, who 
was stationed in this house as guard, and whose charge it 
was to secure the house against all violence, came home 
once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of 
millet with butter was placed before him cooked. He 
shoved the dish away, and shouted an order for more 
butter. A whole small tub of butter was brought, when 
he shouted again an order for another dish. This was 
brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter 
into it, and called for spirits. A whole bottle was 
brought, and he poured it likewise into the dish. There- 
after milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in large quantities 
had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and 
the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoon- 
fuls, he began to strike about him, pulled the host by 
the beard, struck him in the face with his fist, so that the 
blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of his glo- 
rious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous 
manner till he became so drunk that he could no longer 
support himself, and fell to the ground. 



1^8 Solomon Matmon : 

Such scenes were at that time very common every- 
where in Poland. If a Russian army passed a place, 
they took with them a prowodnik^ or guide, to the next 
place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the 
mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the 
first person whom they met on the road. He might be 
young or old, male or female, healthy or sick, it mattered 
nothing to them ; for they knew the road well enough 
from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for 
outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not 
know the way at all, and did not show them the right 
road, they did not allow themselves to be sent astray on 
this account; they selected the road all right, but they 
cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, for 
not knowing the way I 

I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not 
indeed know the way, but luckily I hit upon it by 
chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached the proper 
place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good 
many blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the 
threat, that, if ever I led them astray, I should certainly 
be flayed alive — a threat which they might be trusted 
with carrying into execution. 

The other places which I filled as tutor were more or 
less similar to this. In one of these a remarkable 
psychological incident occurred in which I took the 
principal part and which is to be described in the sequel. 
An incident of the same kind, however, which happened 



An Autobiography. 149 

to another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, 
must be mentioned here. 

A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, 
rose one night from his bed and went to the village 
churchyard with a volume of the Jewish ceremonial laws 
in his hand. After remaining some time there he 
returned to his bed. In the morning he rose up, with- 
out remembering the least of what had happened dur- 
ing the night, and went to the chest where his copy of 
the ceremonial laws w^as usually kept, in order to take 
out the first part, Orach Chajim or the Way of Life, 
which he was accustomed to read every morning. The 
code consists of four parts, each of which was bound 
separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up 
in the chest. He was therefore astonished to find only 
three of the parts, Joreh Deah or the Teacher of Wisdom, 
being awanting. As he knew about his disease he 
searched everywhere, till at last he came to the church- 
yard where he found the Joreh Deah lying open at the 
chapter, Hilchoth Abheloth or the Laws of Mourning. 
He took this for a bad omen and came home much 
disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude 
he related the incident which had occurred, with the 
addition, "Ah! God knows how my poor mother is !" 
He bef^ged of his master the loan of a horse and per- 
mission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother 
lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had 
to pass the place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding 



,ro Solomon Maimon : 

in great excitement without being willing to dismount 
even for a little while, I asked him the cause of his 
excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned 
incident. 

I was astonished, not so much about the particular 
circumstances of this incident, as about somnambulism 
in general, of which till then I had known nothing. My 
friend, on the other hand, assured me that somnambul- 
ism was a common occurrence with him, and that it 
meant nothing, but that the circumstance of the Hikhoth 
Abheloth made him forebode some misfortune. There- 
upon he rode off, arrived at his mother's house, and 
found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked 
him the reason of his coming, when he replied that he 
had come merely to pay her a visit, as he had not seen 
her for a long time. After he had rested for a good 
while, he rode back ; but his disquietude was by no 
means wholly removed, and the thought of the Hikhoth 
Abheloth he could not get out of his head. The third 
day after, a fire broke out in the town where his mother 
lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. 
Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he 
began to lament that his mother had so miserably perished. 
He rode off in all haste to the town, and found what he 
had foreboded. 



An Autobiography. 151 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter. 

About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my 
nation, called the New Chasidim^ which was then coming 
into prominence. Chasidim is the name generally given 
by the Hebrews to the pioiis^ that is, to those who dis- 
tinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. 
These were, from time immemorial, men who had freed 
themselves from worldly occupations and pleasures, and 
devoted their lives to the strictest exercise of the laws of 
religion and penance for their sins. As already men- 
tioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers 
and other exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the 
body and similar means. 

But about this time some among them set themselves 
up for founders of a new sect. They maintained that 
true piety does not by any means consist in chastisement 
of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and cheerfulness, 
necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are dis- 
turbed. On the contrary, they maintained that man must 
satisfy all his bodily wants, and seek to enjoy the plea- 
sures of sense, so far as may be necessary for the deve- 



, r 2 Solomon Mai?no?i : 

lopment of our feelings, inasmuch as God has created all 
for his glory. The true service of God, according to 
them, consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of 
all our powers, and annihilation of self before God ; for 
they maintain that man, in accordance with his destina- 
tion, can reach the highest perfection only when he re- 
gards himself, not as a being that exists and works for 
himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead 
therefore of spending their lives in separation from the 
world, in suppression of their natural feelings, and in 
deadening their powers, they believed that they acted 
much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop 
their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their 
powers into exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere 
of work. 

It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite 
methods have something true for a foundation. Of the 
former the foundation is obviously Stoicism, that is, an 
endeavour to determine actions by free will in accordance 
with a higher principle than passion ; the latter is founded 
on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything 
else in the world, may be abused, and are abused in 
actual life. Those of the first sect drive their penitential 
disposition to extravagance; instead of merely regulating 
their desires and passions by rules of moderation, they 
seek to annihilate them ; and, instead of endeavouring, 
like the Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in 
pure reason, they seek it rather in religion. This is a 



Ati Autobiography. 153 

pure source, it is true ; but as these people have false 
ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its foun- 
dation merely the future rewards and punishments of an 
arbitrary tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, 
in point of fact their actions flow from an impure source, 
namely the principle of interest. Moreover, in their case 
this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, in this 
respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who 
have, it is true, a lo\v, but still a real interest as the end 
of their actions. Only then can religion yield a principle 
of virtue, when it is itself founded on the idea of virtue. 

The adherents of the second sect have indeed more 
correct ideas of religion and morals ; but since in this 
respect they regulate themselves for the most part in 
accordance with obscure feelings, and not in accordance 
with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall 
into all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of 
necessity cramps their activity, or gives it a false direction. 
They have no natural science, no acquaintance with 
psychology ; and they are vain enough to consider them- 
selves organs of the Godhead, — which of course they are, 
to an extent limited by the degree of perfection they 
attain. The result is, that on the credit of the Godhead 
they perpetrate the greatest excesses ; every extraordinary 
suggestion is to thsm a divine inspiration, and every 
lively impulse a divine call. 

These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; 
their difference consisted merely in the mode of their 

L 



,-^ SolomoTi Maimon : 

religious exercises. But still their animosity went so far, 
that they decried each other as heretics, and indulged in 
mutual persecution. At first the new sect held the upper 
hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, 
and even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent 
emissaries everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the 
new doctrine and procure adherents. Now, the majority 
of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, that is, men 
devoted to an inactive and contemplative life ; for every 
Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and 
only the greatest incapacity can exclude him from the 
office. Moreover, this new doctrine was to make the 
way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it declared that 
fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud 
are not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheer- 
fulness of spirit which is essential to genuine piety. It 
was therefore natural that the adherents of the doctrine 
spread far and wide in a short time. 

Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, 
where the enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young 
people forsook parents, wives and children, and went in 
troops to visit these superiors, and hear from their lips 
the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the rise 
of this sect was the following.* 

• In our times, when so much is said both /r(? and contra about 
secret societies, 1 believe that the history of a particular secret 
society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should 
not be passed over in this sketch of my life. 



An Autobiography. 155 

I have already remarked that, since the time when the 
Jews lost their national position and were dispersed 
among other nations where they are more or less 
tolerated, they have had no internal form of government 
but their religious constitution, by which they are held 
together and still form, in spite of their political 
dispersion, an organic whole. Their leaders, therefore, 
have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing so 
much as with imparting additional strength to this, the 
only bond of union by which the Jews still constitute a 
nation. But the doctrines of their faith and the laws of 
their religion take their origin in the Holy Scriptures, 
while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to 
their exposition and application to particular cases. 
Consequently the aid of tradition is of necessity called 
in, and by this means the method of expounding the 
Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left 
undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified 
in determinate laws. This tradition could not of course 
be entrusted to the whole nation, but merely to a 
particular body — a sort of legislative commission. 

By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. 
Tradition itself left much that was still indeterminate. 
The deduction of particular cases from the general, and 
the new laws demanded by the circumstances of different 
times, gave occasion for many controversies ; but through 
these very controversies and the mode of their settlement, 
this body became always more numerous, and its 



1^6 Solojnon Mainion : 

influence on the nation more powerful. The Jewish 
constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is 
accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. 
The unlearned classes of the people, being burdened 
with the care of supporting not only themselves but also 
the indispensable learned class, were unable to give their 
attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time 
men have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who 
have not only denounced its abuses, but have even 
called in question its authority. 

Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, 
who at the very outset placed himself in opposition to 
the tyranny of this aristocracy, and brought back the 
whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure moral 
system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as 
means to end. In this way the reformation at least of a 
part of the nation was accomplished. Of the same sort 
also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, who, at the close 
of last century* set himself up as Messiah, and was 
going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially 
the rabbinical institutions. A rhoral system founded 
upon reason would, owing to the deeply rooted 
prejudices of the nation at that time, have been power- 
less to work out a wholesome reformation. To their 
prejudices and fanaticism therefore it was necessary to 



* That is, of course, the 17th century. — Trans. 



An Autobiography. 157 

oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This was done in 
the following way. 

A secret society, whose founders belonged to the dis- 
affected spirits of the nation, had already taken root in 
it for a long time. A certain French rabbi, named Moses 
de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph Cand"a, to 
have composed the Zohar, and to have foisted it upon 
the nation as an old book having for its author the cele- 
brated Talmudist, Rabbi ben Jochai. This book con- 
tains, as stated above, an exposition of the Holy Scrip- 
tures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah ; 
or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered 
in the form of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and 
drawn, as it were, from these. It has, like Janus, a 
double face, and admits, therefore, of a double interpre- 
tation. 

The one is that which is given with great diffuseness 
in Cabbalistic writings, and has been brought into a sys- 
tem. Here is a wide field for the imagination, where it 
can revel at will without being in the end better instructed 
on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in figu- 
rative language, many moral and physical truths, which 
lose themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysi- 
cal. This method of treating the Cabbalah is peculiar 
to Cabbalistic scholars, and constitutes the lesser mys- 
teries of this secret society. 

The second method, on the other hand, concerns the 
secret political meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known 



■58 



Solomon Maiinon : 



only to the superiors of the secret society. These supe- 
riors themselves, as well as their operations, remain ever 
unknown; the rest of the society you may become 
acquainted with, if you choose. But the latter cannot 
betray political secrets which are unknown to themselves, 
while the former will not do it, because it is against their 
interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) mysteries are 
entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters 
of the highest importance. The greater (political) mys- 
teries arc not taught, but, as a matter of course, are 
brought into practice. 

A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem * by name, 
became very celebrated at this time on account of some 
lucky cures which he effected by means of his medical 
acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he gave out 
that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely 
by help of the Cahbalah Maasith (the practical Cabbalah), 
and the use of sacred names. In this way he played a 
very successful game in Poland. He also took care to 
have followers in his art. Among his disciples were 
some, who took hold of his profession, and made them- 
selves a name by successful cures and the detection of 
robberies. With their cures the process was quite natu- 



* Baalshem is one who occupies himself with the practical Cab- 
balah, that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of 
amulets, in which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are 
employed. 



An Autobiography. 159 

ral. They employed the common means of medicine, 
but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought 
to turn the attention of the spectator from these, and 
direct it to their Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies 
they either brought about themselves, or they discovered 
them by means of their detectives, who were spread all 
over the country. 

Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of think- 
ing, formed far grander plans. They saw that their 
private interest, as well as the general interest, could be 
best promoted by gaining the people's confidence, and 
this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their 
plan was therefore moral and political at the same time.* 
At first it appeared as if they would merely do away with 
the abuses which had crept into the Jewish system of 
religion and morals ; but this drew after it of necessity a 
complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal 
points which they attacked were these : — 

I. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of sim- 
plifying the laws and rendering them capable of being 
known by all, the learning of the rabbis leaves them still 
more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occu- 
pied only with the study of the laws, it gives as much 



* As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the 
exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by ex- 
perience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How 
far this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by 
analogy according to the rules of probability. 



,(,o SolofTion Maimon: 

attention to those which are no longer of any application, 
such as the laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc., as to 
those which are still in use. Besides, it is not the study, 
but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief con- 
cern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but 
merely a means to their observance. And, finally, in the 
observance of the laws the rabbis have regard merely to 
the external ceremony, not to the moral end. 

2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called 
penitents. These become very zealous, it is true, about 
the practice of virtue. Their motive to virtue, however, 
is not that knowledge of God and His perfection, which 
is based on reason ; it consists rather in false representa- 
tions of God and His attributes. They failed therefore 
of necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious 
imitation. Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and 
striving to escape from the bondage of sensual passions 
into the dominion of a free will that finds its motive in 
reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by anni- 
hilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown 
by some deplorable examples. 

On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the 
people required, as an indispensable condition of true 
virtue, a cheerful state of mind disposed to every form of 
active exertion ; and they not only allowed, but even re- 
commended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of 
pleasure as necessary for the attainment of this cheerful 
disposition. Their worship consisted in a voluntary 



An Autobiography. i6i 

elevation above the body, that is, in an abstraction of 
the thoughts from all created things, even from the 
individual self, and in union with God. By this means 
a kind of self-denial arose among liiem, which led them 
to ascribe, not to themselves, but to God alone, all the 
actions undertaken in this state. Their worship therefore 
consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, for which 
they held no special time or formula to be necessary, 
but they left each one to determine it according to the 
degree of his knowledge. Still they chose for it must 
commonly the hours set apart for the public worship of 
God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly 
to attain that elevation above the body, which has been 
described ; they became so absorbed in the idea of the 
divine perfection, that they lost the idea of everything 
else, even of their own body, and, as they gave out, the 
body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling. 

Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter ; 
and accordingly, whenever they came out of this state by 
new suggestions taking possession of their minds, they 
laboured, by all sorts of mechanical operations, such as 
movements and cries, to bring themselves back into the 
state once more, and to keep themselves in it without 
interruption during the whole time of their worship. It 
was amusing to observe how they often interrupted their 
prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones and comical 
gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches 
against their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to dis- 



J 62 Solomon Maimon : 

lurb their devotion ; and how by this means they wore 
themselves out to such an extent, that, on finishing their 
prayers, they commonly fell down in complete exhaus- 
tion. 

It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the 
basis of such a worship, it is subject to abuse just as 
much as the other. The internal activity following upon 
cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree of 
knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is 
only then well-founded, when a man's faculty of know- 
ledge, owing to the grandeur of its object, is so entirely 
occupied with that object, that he exists, as it were, out 
of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, the 
faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so 
that it is incapable of any steady progress, then the 
activity mentioned, by being concentrated on this single 
object, is repressed rather than stimulated. Some simple 
men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the whole day 
with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking 
about all the time, replied, *' We are thinking about 
God." This answer would have been satisfactory, if they 
had constantly sought, by an adequate knowledge of 
nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine perfections. 
But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge 
of nature was extremely limited \ and consequently the 
condition, in which they concentrated their activity upon 
an object which, in respect of their capacity, was unfruit- 
ful, became of necessity unnatural. Moreover, their 



An Autobiography. 163 

actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were 
the results of an accurate knowledge of God ; but when 
they resulted from a very limited degree of this knowledge, 
it was inevitable that all sorts of excesses should be com- 
mitted on the credit of God, as unfortunately the issue 
has shown. 

But the fact, that this sect spread so rapidly, and that 
the new doctrine met with so much applause among the 
majority of the nation, may be very easily explained. 
The natural inclination to idleness and a life of specula- 
tion on the part of the majority, who from birth are des- 
tined to study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbini- 
cal studies, and the great burden of the ceremonial law, 
which the new doctrine promised to lighten, finally the 
tendency to fanaticism and the love of the marvellous, 
which are nourished by this doctrine, — these are suffici- 
ent to make this phenomenon intelligible. 

At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread 
of this sect in the old fashion ; but in spite of this, for 
the reasons just mentioned, it maintained the upper 
hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. Each 
party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the 
nation, and opinions were divided. 

I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, 
and did not know what to think of it, till I met with a 
young man, who had already been initiated into the 
society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of conversing 
with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling 



,64 Solomon Maimon : 

through the place of my abode, and I seized the oppor- 
tunity of asking for some information about the internal 
constitution of the society, the mode of admission, and 
so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest grade of 
membership, and consequently knew nothing about the 
internal constitution of the society. He was therefore 
unable to give me any information on the subject ; but, 
as far as the mode of admission w^as concerned, he 
assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. 
Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not 
know how to satisfy it, or wished to remove the hin- 
drances to its satisfaction, had nothing to do but apply 
to the superiors of the society, and eo ipso he became a 
member. He did not even require, as you must do on 
applying to a medical doctor, to say anything to these 
superiors about his moral weakness, his previous life, and 
matters of that sort, inasmuch as nothing was unknown 
to the superiors, they could see into the human heart, 
and discern everything that is concealed in its secret 
recesses, they could foretell the future, and bring near at 
hand things that are remote. Their sermons and moral 
teachings were not, as these things commonly are, thought 
over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. 
This method is proper only to the man, who regards 
himself as a being existing and working for himself apart 
from God. But the superiors of this sect hold that their 
teachings are divine and therefore infallible, only when 
ihcy are the result of self-annihilation before God, that 



An Autobiography. 165 

is, when they are suggested to them ex tempore^ by the 
exigence of circumstances, without their contributing 
anything themselves. 

As I was quite captivated by this description I begged 
the stranger to communicate to me some of these divine 
teachings. He clapped his hand on his brow as if he 
were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and 
turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half- 
bared, which he brought into action somewhat like 
Corporal Trim, when he was reading the sermon. Then 
he began as follows : — 

" 'Sing unto God a new song ; His praise is in the 
congregation of saints' (Psalm cxlix., i). Our 
superiors explain this verse in the following way. The 
attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass 
by far the attributes of every finite being ; and conse- 
quently His praise, as the expression of His attributes, 
must likewise surpass the praise of any such being. Till 
the present time the praise of God consisted in ascribing 
to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of 
what is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the 
production of effects immediately by His mere will. 
Now, however, the saints, that is, the superiors, are able 
to perform such supernatural actions themselves. 
Accordingly in this respect God has no longer pre- 
eminence over them ; and it is therefore necessary to 
find some new praise, which is proper to God alone." 

Quite charmed with this ingenious method of inter- 



, 66 Solovion Mamon : 

preting the Holy Scriptures, I begged the stranger for 
some more expositions of the same kind. He proceeded 
therefore in his inspired manner:—" 'When the minstrel 
played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 
15). This is explained in the following way. As long as 
a man is self-active, he is incapable of receiving the in- 
fluence of the Holy Ghost \ for this purpose he must 
hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive state. 
The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the 
minstrel (f.3?en, the servant of God), becomes like his 
instrument (fj^.s), then the spirit of God comes upon 
him."* 

"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpreta- 
tion of a passage from the Mishnah, where it is said, 
'The honour of thy neighbour shall be as dear to thee 
as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the following 
way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing 
honour to himself : this would be altogether ridiculous. 
But it would be just^as ridiculous to make too much of 
the marks of honour received from another, as these 
confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have al- 



• The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in 
Hebrew pj may stand for the infinitive oi play, as well as for a 
musical instrument, and that the prefix D may be translated either 
flj, in the sense of 'luhen, or as, in the sense of like. The superiors 
of this sect, who wrenched passages of the Holy Scriptures from their 
context, regarding themselves as merely vehicles of their teachings, 
selected accordingly that interpretation of this passage, which fitted 
best their principle of self-annihilation before God. 



An Autobiography. 167 

ready. This passage therefore means merely, that the 
honour of thy neighbour (the honour which thy neigh- 
bour shows to thee) must be of as httle value in thine 
eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest to 
thyself)." 

I could not help being astonished at the exquisite re- 
finement of these thoughts ; and charmed with the inge- 
nious exegesis, by which they were supported.* My 
imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these 
descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much 
as the pleasure of becoming a member of this honourable 
society. I resolved therefore to undertake a journey to 

M , where the superior B resided. I waited 

with the greatest impatience for the close of my period 
of service, which lasted still for some weeks. As soon 
as this came to an end, instead of going home (though 
I was only two miles away), I started at once on my pil- 
grimage. The journey extended over some weeks. 

At last I arrived at M , and after having rested 

from my journey I went to the house of the superior 
under the idea that I could be introduced to him at 
once. I was told, however, that he could not speak to 
me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on 



* Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the 
interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel 
(xliv., 1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary ; but most 
readers will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory 
to the imagination of those who choose to follow it out. — Tratu. 



,58 Solomofi Mamon: 

Sabbath along with the other strangers who had come to 
visit him ; that I should then have the happiness of 
seeing the saintly man face to face, and of hearing the 
sublimest teachings out of his own mouth ; that although 
this was a public audience, yet, on account of the 
individual references which I should find made to my- 
self, I might regard it as a special interview. 

Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, 
and found there a large number of respectable men who 
had met here from various quarters. At length the 
great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in 
white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, 
this being among the Cabbalists the colour of grace. 
He gave to every new comer his salaam, that is, his 
greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal a 
solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the 
superior struck up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his 
hand for some time upon his brow, and then began to 

call out, " Z of H , M of R- ," and so 

on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name 
and the name of his residence, which excited no little 
astonishment. Each recited, as he was called, some 
verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior 
began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited 
served as a text, so that although they were disconnected 
verses taken from different parts of the Holy Scriptures 
they were combined with as much skill as if they had 
formed a single whole. What was still more extra- 



An Autobiography. i6f; 

ordinary, every one of the new comers believed that he 
discovered, in that part of the sermon which was founded 
on his verse, something that had special reference to the 
facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of course 
greatly astonished. 

It was not long, however, before I began to qualify 
the high opinion I had formed of this superior and the 
whole society. I observed that their ingenious exegesis 
was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was limited 
strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the 
doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once 
learned these, there was nothing new for him to hear. 
The so-called miracles could be very naturally explained. 
By means of correspondence and spies and a certain 
knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, 
the superiors were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of 
the heart, so that they succeeded with these simple men 
in obtaining the reputation of being inspired prophets. 

The whole society also displeased me not a litde by 
their cynical spirit and the excess of their merriment. A 
single example of this may suffice. We had met once at 
the hour of prayer in the house of the superior. One of 
the company arrived somewhat late, when the others 
asked him the reason. He replied that he had been 
detained by his wife having been that evening confined 
with a daughter. As soon as they heard this, they began 
to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. 
The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked 



170 



Solomon Maimon 



the cause of the noise. He was told that we were con- 
gratulating our friend, because his wife had brought a 
girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the 
greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."* The 
poor fellow protested. He could not comprehend why 
he should be made to suffer for his wife having brought 
a girl into the world. But this was of no avail : he was 
seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmerci- 
fully. All except the victim fell into an hilarious mood 
over the affair, upon which the superior called them to 
prayer in the following words, *' Now, brethren, serve the 
Lord with gladness ! " 

I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought 
the superior's blessing, took my departure from the 
society with the resolution to abandon it for ever, and 
returned home. 

Now I shall say something of the internal constitution 
of the society. The superiors may, according to my 
experience, be brought under four heads : (i) the 
prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,! (4) the good. 



* A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt 
of the other sex. 

t Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young 
man of twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. 
lie travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was 
something so terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means 
of it (juite despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the 
constitution of the congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, 
and made new regulations which were punctually followed. The 



An Autobiography. 1 7 i 

The highest class, which rules all the others, is of 
course the first. These are men of enlightenment, who 
have attained a deep knowledge of the weaknesses of 
men and the motives of their actions, and have early 
learned the truth that prudence is better than power, 
inasmuch as power is in part dependent on prudence, 
while prudence is independent of power. A man may 
have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, 
still his influence is always limited. By prudence, how- 
ever, and a sort of psychological mechanics, that is, an 
insight into the best possible use of these powers and 
their direction, they may be infinitely strengthened. 
These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted them- 
selves to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the 
w^ill and powers of other men, so that while these believe 
themselves to be advancing merely their own ends, they 
are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. This 
can be maintained by a judicious combination and 
regulation of the powers, so that by the slightest touch 
upon this instrument it may produce the greatest effect. 
There is here no deceit, for, as presupposed, the others 
themselves reach their own ends by this means best. 



elders of the congregation, for the most part old respectable men, who 
far excelled him in learning, trembled before his face. A great 
scholar, who would not believe the infallibility of this superior, was 
seized with such terror by his threatening look, that he fell mto a 
violent fever of which he died. Such extraordinary courage and 
determination had this man attained merely through early exercises 
in Stoicism. 



I -J 2 Solomon Maimon : 

The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the 
powers of others for the attainment of their ends ; but in 
regard to these ends they are more short-sighted or more 
impetuous than the former class. It often happens, 
therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the 
expense of others ; and their skill consists not merely in 
attaining their own ends, like the first class, but in care- 
fully concealing from others the fact that they have not 
reached theirs. 

The powerful are men who, by their inborn or 
acquired moral force, rule over the weakness of others, 
especially when their force is such as is seldom found in 
others, as, for example, the control of all the passions but 
one, which is made the end of their actions. 

The good are weak men who are merely passive in 
respeci of their knowledge and power of will, and whose 
ends are reached, not by controlling, but by allowing 
themselves to be controlled. 

The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all 
the others without being under their supervision, as a 
matter of course rules them all. It makes use of the 
crafty on their good side, and seeks to make them harm- 
less on their other side by outwitting them, so that when 
they believe they are deceiving, they themselves are 
deceived. It makes use, moreover, of the powerful for 
the attainment of more important ends, but seeks, when 
necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of 
several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use 



An Autobiography. 173 

of the good for the attainment of its ends, not merely 
with them but also with others, inasmuch as it 
commends these weak brethren to the others as an 
example of submission that is worthy of imitation, and 
by this means clears out of the way those hindrances 
that arise from the independent activity of the others. 

This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and 
ends with Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious 
men of the first sort, that is, such as have for a consider- 
able time devoted themselves to the strictest exercise of 
religious and moral laws, to the control of their desires 
and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon 
Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a 
means to the highest end of man, namely, happiness. 
They do not therefore remain at the Stoical stage, but, 
after having obtained from it all that is necessary to the 
highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the enjoyment 
of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism 
their sensibihty for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and 
ennobled, instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross 
Epicureans. By means of this exercise also they are 
placed in a position to defer every pleasure that presents 
itself till they have determined its real worth, which a 
gross Epicurean will not do. 

The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the 
temperament, and it is only by a kind of self-deception 
that it is shifted to the account of voluntary activity. 
But this vanity imparts courage for actual undertakings 



1 - ^ Solomo?i Maimon : 

of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually 
fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this 
sect are not men of science, it is not to be supposed that 
they have hit upon their system by the guidance of reason 
alone. Rather, as already said, the motive was, in the 
first instance, temperament, in the second, religious 
ideas ; and it was only after that, that they could attain 
to a clear knowledge and practice of their system in its 
purity. 

This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its 
means, a sort of secret society, which had nearly acquired 
dominion over the whole nation ; and consequently one 
of the greatest revolutions was to have been expected, if 
the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare 
many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands 
of its enemies. Some among them, who wished to pass 
for genuine Cynics, violated all the laws of decency, wan- 
dered about naked in the public streets, attended to the 
wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By 
their practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their 
principle of self-annihilation, they introduced into their 
sermons all sorts of foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. 
By this means some of them became insane, and believed 
that in fact they were no longer in existence. To all 
this must be added their pride and contempt of others 
who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, 
who, though they had their faults, were still far more ac- 
tive and useful than these ignorant idlers. Men began 



An Autobiography. 175 

to find out their weaknesses, to disturb their meetings, 
and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought 
about especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, 
Elias of Wilna,* who stood in great esteem among the 
Jews, so that now scarcely any traces of the society can 
be found scattered here and there. 



* Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's Geschichte des Judenthums, 
Vol. iii., pp. 248-250. — Trans. 



,-6 Solomon Maitnon 



CHAPTER XX. 

Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious 

Mysteries. 

After the account of the secret society in the last chap- 
ter, this seems the most appropriate place to state, for the 
examination of the thoughtful reader, my opinion about 
mysteries in general, and about the 7?tysteries of religion 
in particular. 

Mysteries in general are modes of the causal relation 
between objects in nature, — modes which are real or held 
to be real, but which cannot be disclosed to every man 
by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. Eternal 
truths, that is, those necessary relations of objects which 
are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, 
however few may be familiar with them, are not, accord- 
ing to this definition, mysteries, because any one can 
discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge. 

On the other hand, the results of sympathy and anti- 
pathy, the medical specifics, and similar effects, which 
some men fall upon by mere accident, and which they 
afterwards find confirmed by means of observations and 
experiments, are genuine mysteries of 7iature, which can 
be iiKidc known to another person, not by the use of his 



An Autobiography. 177 

powers of knowledge, but only either by an accident of 
the same kind, or by communication from the first dis- 
coverer. If mysteries of this sort are not confirmed by 
observation and experiment, the belief in their reality is 
called superstition. 

Religion is a covenant formed between man and an- 
other moral being of a higher genus. It presupposes a 
natural relation between man and this higher moral 
being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, 
they advance the interest of each other. If this natural 
relation (not being merely arbitrary and conventional) is 
real, and the mutual obligation of the contracting persons 
is founded on this relation, then it forms a true, but 
otherwise z. false., natural religion. If the mutual obliga- 
tion between man and the higher being or his represen- 
tatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a posi- 
tive or repealed religion. 

The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, 
as already observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a 
contract, at first merely understood, but afterwards ex- 
pressed, between man and the Supreme Being, who re- 
vealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams 
and prophetic appearances), and made known by them 
His will, the reward of obeying it and the punishment of 
disobedience, regarding which a covenant was then with 
mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through his 
representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the 
Israelites in Egypt, determining more precisely their 



I yg Solomon Maimon : 

mutual obligations ; and this was afterwards on both sides 
formally confirmed on Mount Sinai. 

To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that 
the representation of a covenant between God and man 
is to be taken merely a?ialogically, and not in its strict 
sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal Himself 
merely as idea to the reaso?t. What revealed itself to the 
patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of com- 
prehension, in figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, 
was not the absolutely Perfect Being Himself, but a re- 
presentative of Him, His sensible image. The covenant, 
which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end 
the mutual satisfaction of wants ; for the Supreme Being 
has no wants, and the wants of man are satisfied, not 
by means of this covenant, but only by observation of 
those relations between himself and other natural ob- 
jects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This 
covenant, therefore, can have its foundation nowhere 
but in the nature of reason, without reference to any 
end. 

Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from 
;r Judaism mainly by the fact, that the latter rests upon the 
formal^ absolutely necessary laws of reason, while the 
former (even if it be founded on the nature of things 
and therefore real) rests upon the material laws of nature 
which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this 
the inevitable result is polytheism; every particular 
cause is personified by imagination, that is, represented 



An Autobiography. 179 

as a moral being, and made a particular deity. At first 
this result was a matter of mere Empiricism ; but by and 
by men had occasion to observe that these causes, which 
were represented as particular deities, were dependent on 
each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect 
subordinate to each other. There thus arose gradually 
a whole system of heathen theology, in which every deity 
maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is 
determined. 

Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin 
contemplated a system^ that is, a unity among the forces 
of nature ; and thereby it received at last this pure 
formal unity. This unity is merely of regulative use, that 
is, for the complete systematic connection of all the 
phenomena of nature ; and it presupposes a knowledge 
of the 7nultiplicity of the various forces in nature. But 
owing to their excessive love of system, and their anxiety 
for the preservation of the principle in its purity, the 
Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. 
The result was that they preserved a religion which was 
pure indeed, but at the same time very unfruitful, both 
for the extension of knowledge and for its application in 
practical life. By this cause may be explained their 
constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, 
and their repeated relapse into idolatry. They could 
not, like enlightened nations at the present day, direct 
their attention to purity of principle and useful applica- 
tion of their religion at the same time, and therefore of 



i8o Solomon Mairnon : 

necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. 
Finally the Talmudists introduced a merely formal 
' application of religion which aimed at no real end ; and 
by this means they made matters worse and worse. 

This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its 
founder, should have formed the Jews into the wisest 
and most intelligent of nations, made them by its 
injudicious application the most ignorant and unreason- 
able of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being 
combined with the knowledge of religion, and the former 
subordinated to the latter merely as the material to the 
formal, the former was altogether neglected ; and the 
principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, continued 
without any application. 

Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are 
adapted to ideas and principles, and the inner meaning 
of which is of great importance, but which have in their 
outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or other- 
wise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard 
to their outward form, be kept concealed from the vul- 
gar eye, which cannot penetrate into the inner meaning 
of anything ; and accordingly for it they must be a double 
mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts themselves 
constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning 
the greater mysteries. 

Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the taber- 
nacle, and afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, 
was the ark of the covenant, which, according to the tes- 



An Autobiography. i8i 

timony of renowned authors, showed much resemblance 
to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some 
heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians 
the casket of Apis, that concealed from the vulgar eye 
this dead animal, which as a symbol indeed had an im- 
portant meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive as- 
pect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple con- 
tained, it is true, according to the testimony of Holy 
Scripture, nothing besides the two tables of the law ; but 
of the ark in the second temple, built after the Babylo- 
nian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is 
too remarkable not to be adduced. According to this 
passage the enemies, who seized the temple, found in the 
Holy of Holies the likeness of two persons of different 
sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a crass 
exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said 
to be a vivid sensible representation of the union between 
the nation and God, and, in order to guard against abuse, 
had to be withdrawn from the eye of the common 
people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to 
its inner meaning. For the same reason the cherubim 
also were concealed behind the veil. 

Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in 
general. But the greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish 
religion consists in the name, Jehovah, expressing bare 
existence, in abstraction from all particular kinds of exist- 
ence, which cannot of course be conceived without exist- 
ence in general The doctrine of the unity of God, and 



1 82 Solomon Maimon : 

the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their 
possibility as well as their actuality, can be p.ifectly 
comprehended only in conformity with a single system. 
When Josephus, in his apology against Apion, says, 
" The first instruction of our religion relates to the God- 
head, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is 
an absolutely Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the sole 
cause of all existence^'' I believe that these words contain 
the best explanation of the otherwise difficult passage, 
where Moses says to God, " Behold, when I come unto 
the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God 
of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall 
ask, What is his name ? what shall I answer unto them ? " 
and God replies, " Thus shalt thou say unto the children 
of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for 
this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto 
all generations."* For, in my opinion, this passage 
means nothing more than that the Jewish religion lays 
at its foundation the unity of God as the immediate cause 
of all existence ; and it says therefore precisely the same 
as the remarkable inscription on the pyramid at Sais, " I 
am all that is and was and shall be ; my veil has no mor- 
tal removed," and that other inscription under the column 
of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is 
called by the Talmudists Shem haezam (nomen proprium)^ 



* Exodus ^ iii., 13, 14, 



An Autobiography. 183 

the name of the essence, which belongs to God in Him- 
self, without reference to His operations. The other 
names of God, however, are appellative^ and express at- 
tributes which he has in common with all His creatures, 
only that they belong to Him in the most eminent de- 
gree. For example, Elohim is a lord, a judge. El is a 
mighty one, Adonai, a lord ; and the same is the case 
with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point so far 
as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely 
of the manifold names of God. 

The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having 
enumerated the chief attributes of God, arranged them 
in order and brought them into a system which they 
call Ola7n Eziloth or Sephiroth, they not only picked 
out an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, 
but they made in addition all sorts of combinations of 
these attributes in various relations, which they expressed 
by similar combinations of the corresponding names. 
They could therefore easily expound the Holy Scriptures 
according to their method, inasmuch as they found 
therein nothing but what they had before put in them- 
selves. 

Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion 
which consist in the knowledge that the religion, as 
understood by enlightened people, has no mysteries at 
all. This knowledge may be connected either with an 
endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the 
belief in mysteries, and to banish the so-called lesser 



1 84 Solomon Maimoti : 

mysteries by publishing the greater, or, on the contrary, 
with an endeavour to preserve among the people the 
belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the 
lesser mysteries part of the subject of the greater. 

The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its 
founder, is of the first kind. Moses, as well as the 
prophets who followed him, sought constantly to incul- 
cate that the end of religion is not external ceremonies^ 
but the knowledge of the true God as the sole incom- 
prehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue 
in accordance with the prescriptions of reason. 

The heathen religions, on the other hand, show 
evident traces of the second kind. Still I am not, like 
some, inclined to believe that everything in these was 
planned for intentional deception, but I believe that the 
founders ot these religions were for the most part 
deceived deceivers ; and this mode of representing the 
matter is far more in accordance with human nature. I 
am also unable to imagine that such secret designs could 
be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from 
generation to generation. And, moreover, what would 
have been the use of this ? Have not later generations 
the same faculty as the earlier of contriving schemes to 
reach their ends ? There are princes who have never 
read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his 
principles into practice. 

\Vith regard to the society of pietists described above 
I am persuaded that it had as little connection with the 



An Autobiography. 185 

free-masons as with any other secret society. But 
conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do merely 
with the degree of probability. In my opinion there are 
in every state societies which are essentially secret, but 
which externally have no appearance of being such. 
Every body of men with a common interest is to me a 
secret^-SQciety^ Its aim and principal operations may be 
ever so well known, still the most important of these 
remain concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret 
society, as of others, much good as well as evil may 
therefore be said ; and so long as they do not carry their 
mischief too far, they are always tolerated. 

The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to 
that of the Order of lUuminati in Bavaria, and employed 
nearly the same means. Its aim was to spread itself 
among people wandering in the dark ; and it made use 
of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this 
end. It sought chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and 
by a sort of empirical knowledge of men, to educate 
every member to that, for which he seemed to be des- 
tined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. 
Every member of the society was allowed to acquire as 
much knowledge of its aim and internal constitution, as 
enabled him to look merely backwards on his subordi- 
nates, but not forwards on his superiors. These supe- 
riors understood the art of communicating truths of 
reason by means of sublime figures, and of translating 
these figurative representations into truths of reason. It 

N 



1 86 Solomon Maimon: 

might almost be said of them, that they understood the 
language of animals — a very important art, which is in- 
dispensable to every teacher of the people. By doing 
away with a gloomy piety, their doctrines met with ac- 
ceptance among the lively youth. The principle of self- 
annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, 
nothing else than the foundation of self-activity. By its 
means all the modes of thought and action, which have 
become rooted by education, habit and communication 
with others, and by which human activity is wont to re- 
ceive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's 
own free mode of action introduced. Moral and aesthe- 
tic feeling can in fact be preserved and perfected by this 
principle alone. It is only when ill understood, that it 
can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of this 
society itself. 



\ 

\' An Autobiography. 187 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Journeys to Konigsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of 
extending my knowledge of men. 



My external circumstances were becoming worse and 
worse. I was unwilling any longer to adapt myself to 
my ordinary occupations, and found myself therefore 
everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I 
was also unable in the place of my abode to satisfy suf- 
ficiently my favourite inclination to the study of the 
sciences. So I determined to betake myself to Germany, 
there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, other 
sciences also. But the question was, how such a long 
journey was to be made. I knew indeed, that some 
merchants in the place of my abode were soon to make 
a journey to Konigsberg in Prussia ; but I had only a 
slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore 
expect that they would take me with them for nothing. 
After much deliberation I fell at last upon a capital 
expedient. 

I had among my friends a very learned and pious 
man, who stood in great esteem among all the Jews of 
the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and took 
him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my 



1 88 Solomon Mavnon : 

miscrai)lc circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my 
inclinations had been once directed to the knowledge of 
God and His works, I was no longer fit for any ordinary 
occupation ; and I represented to him especially, that I 
was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship 
alone, as an instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, 
which, according to the judgment of some rabbis, was 
not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that on 
this account I wished to study medicine as a profane 
art, by which means I might be of service, not only to 
myself, but to the whole of the Jews in this neighbour- 
hood, as there was no regular physician here, and those, 
who gave themselves out for such, were the most 
ignorant shavers, who packed men out of the world by 
their cures. 

These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so 
devout a man. He went to a merchant of his acquain- 
tance, represented to him the importance of my under- 
taking, and persuaded him to take me with him to 
Konigsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could 
refuse nothing to so godly a man, and therefore gave 
his consent. 

Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for 
Konigsberg in Prussia. When I arrived there, I went 
to the Jewish medical doctor of the place, opened to him 
my proposal to study medicine, and begged him for 
advice and support. As his professional occupations 
prevented him from conveniently speaking with me on 



An Autobiography. 189 

the subject, and as he could not understand me well at 
any rate, he referred me to some students who lodged in 
his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young 
gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst 
into loud laughter. And certainly for this they were not 
to be blamed. Imagine a man from Polish Lithuania of 
about five and twenty years, with a tolerably stiff beard, 
in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a mixture of 
Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their 
several grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he 
understands the German language, and that he has 
attained some knowledge of the sciences. What were 
the young gentlemen to think ? 

They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read 
Mendelssohn's Phaedo, which by chance lay on the table. 
I read in the most pitiful style, both on account of the 
peculiar manner in which I had learned the German 
language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. 
Again they burst into loud laughter ; but they said, I 
must explain to them what I had read. This I did in 
my own fashion ; but as they did not understand me, 
they demanded that I should translate what I had read 
into Hebrew. This I did on the spot. The students, 
who understood Hebrew well, fell into no slight astonish- 
ment, when they saw that I had not only grasped 
correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also 
expressed it happily in Hebrew. They began therefore 
to interest themselves on my account, procured for me 



iQo Solomon Maimon: 

some cast-off clothing, and board during my stay in 
Konigsberg. At the same time they advised me to go 
to Berlin, where I should best attain my object. To 
make the journey suit my circumstances, however, they 
advised me to go by ship from Konigsberg to Stettin, 
and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place 
I should easily find means of getting to Berlin. 

I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food 
but some toast, some herring, and a flask of spirits. I 
was told in Konigsberg, that the journey might take ten 
or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, however, 
was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the 
voyage lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, there- 
fore, I found myself, may be easily imagined. There 
were in the vessel besides me no other passengers, but 
an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her 
comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could 
understand as little as they could my medley of Jewish, 
Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing warm to eat the 
whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed 
bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of 
course the most of the time I was seasick. 

At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I 
could make the journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on 
foot. But how was a Polish Jew in the most wretched 
circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and with- 
out knowing the language of the country, to make a 
journey even of a few miles ? Yet it had to be done. 



An Autobiography. 



191 



Accordingly I set out from Stettin, and as I thought over 
my miserable situation, I sat down under a lime-tree, and 
began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter 
in heart ; I took courage, and went on. After I had 
gone two or three miles, towards evening I arrived at an 
inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve of the Jewish 
fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starv- 
ing with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the 
whole of the next day. I had not a pfennig to spend 
and nothing of any value to sell. 

After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must 
still have in my coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had 
taken with me on board ship, I brought it, and begged 
the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread and 
beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but 
after much importunity she was at last induced to grant 
a glass of sour beer in exchange. I was obliged there- 
fore to content myself with this, drank my glass of beer, 
and went off to the stable to sleep on straw. 

In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having 
previously inquired for a place, where there were Jews, 
in order that I might be able to go into the synagogue, 
and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the 
destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the 
prayers and singing, — about midday, — I went to the 
Jewish schoolmaster of the place, and held some conver- 
sation with him. He soon discovered that I was a full 
rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured 



1 9 2 Solomon Maimon : 

mc a supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a 
letter of introduction to another schoolmaster in the 
neighbouring town, recommending me as a great Tal- 
niudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with 
a fair reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner 
by the most respectable and richest Jew of the place, 
and went into the synagogue, where I was shown to the 
highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually 
bestowed on a rabbi. 

After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to 
took me to his house, and put me in the place of honour 
at his table, that is between himself and his daughter. 
She was a young girl of about twelve years, dressed in 
the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold 
a very learned and edifying discourse ; and the less the 
gentleman and lady understood it, the more divine it 
seemed to them. All at once I observed, to my chagrin, 
that the young lady began to put on a sour look, and to 
make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain 
this ; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon 
myself and my miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole 
mystery was at once unriddled. The uneasiness of the 
young lady had a very good cause. And how could it 
be otherwise? Since I left Konigsberg, about seven 
weeks before, I had never had a clean shirt to put on ; 
and I had been obliged to lie in the stables of inns on 
bare straw, on which who knows how many poor 
travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes 



An Autobiography. iq3 

were opened to see my misery in its appalling mag- 
nitude. But what was I to do ? How was I to help 
myself out of this unfortunate situation ? Gloomy and 
sad I soon bade farewell to these good people, and pro- 
ceeded on my journey to Berlin under a continued 
struggle with want and misery of every kind. 

At last I reached this city. Here I believed that 
I should put an end to my misery, and accomplish all 
my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. In this 
capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were al- 
lowed. Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, 
in order to make provision for their poor, have built at 
the Rosenthaler gate a house, in which the poor are 
received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about 
what they want in Berlin. According to the results of 
such inquiry, they are either taken into the city, if they 
are sick or want employment, or they are sent forward 
on their journey. I was therefore conducted to this 
house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly 
^ with a lewd rabble. For a long while I looked round 
in vain for a man, with whom I might talk about my 
affairs. 

At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, 
was surely a rabbi. I went to him, and how great was 
my joy to learn from him, that he was really a rabbi, 
and pretty well known in Berlin ! I conversed with him 
on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learn- 
ing ; and as I was very open-hearted, I related to him 



IQA Solomon Maimon : s 

the course of my life in Poland, revealed to him my 
purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, showed him my 
commentary on the Moreh Nebhochim, and so forth. He 
listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much 
in my behalf. But all at once he disappeared out of 

sight. 

At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. 
Each of the persons in the house was called, and 
questioned about his wants. When my turn came, I 
said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in 
order to study medicine. The elders refused my request 
point-blank, gave me a pittance in charity, and went 
away. The reason of this conduct towards me in 
particular was nothing else than the following. 

The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his ortho- 
doxy. Accordingly when he had discovered my senti- 
ments and purposes, he went into town, and informed 
the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He 
told them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the 
Moreh Nebhochi??i with a commentary, and that my 
intention was not so much to study medicine, but mainly 
to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to extend 
my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as 
something dangerous to religion and good morals. They 
believe this to be specially true of the Polish rabbis, who, 
having by some lucky accident been delivered from the 
bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of the 
light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains. 



An Autobiography, 195 

And this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons 
in such a position may be compared to a man, who, after 
being famished for a long time, suddenly comes upon a 
well spread table, who will attack the food with violent 
greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting. 

The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon 
me like a thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my 
hopes and wishes was all at once removed beyond my 
reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found myself 
in the' situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to 
turn for help. I was especially pained by the treatment 
I received from the overseer of this poorhouse, who, by 
command of his superiors, urged my speedy departure, 
and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. 
There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep 
bitterly. It was a Sunday, and many people went, as 
usual, to walk outside of the city. Most of them never 
turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some com- 
passionate souls were very much struck with the sight, 
and asked the cause of my wailing. I answered them ; 
but, partly on account of my unintelligible language, 
partly because my speech was broken by frequent weep- 
ing and sobbing, they could not understand what I said. 

I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell 
into a violent fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at 
the gate, reported this at the poorhouse. The overseer 
came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the day, 
and made myself glad with the hope of becoming 



,n6 Solomon Mainion : 

thoroughly sick, so as to enforce a longer sojourn in the 
place, during which I thought I might form some 
acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive 
protection and permission to remain in BerUn. But 
alas ! in this hope I was deceived. The following day I 
rose quite lively again without a trace of fever. I was 
therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did not 
know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I 
came upon, and surrendered myself to fate. 



An Autobiography. 197 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance. 

In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor 
tramp who was a Jewish beggar by profession. I was 
uncommonly pleased to meet one of my brethren, with 
whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was 
pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about 
the country with this companion, and to preserve my life 
in this way, though two such heterogeneous persons were 
nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an educated 
rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained my- 
self in an honourable way ; he was a beggar by profession. 
I had ideas of morality, propriety, and decency ; he 
knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in sound health, 
it is true, but still of weakly constitution ; he, on the 
other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would 
have made the best of soldiers. 

Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the 
man, as, in order to prolong life, I was compelled to be- 
come a vagrant in a strange land. In our wanderings I 
laboured to communicate to my companion ideas of re- 
ligion and of true morality, while he in return instructed 



iqS Solomon Maimon: 

me in the art of begging. He taught me the usual for- 
mulas of the art, and recommended me especially to 
curse and swear, whenever I was sent away without any- 
thing. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself 
in the matter, his teachings would not take any hold on 
me. The formulas of begging appeared to me absurd 
I thought, if a man was once compelled to beg help of 
others, he should express his feelings in the most simple 
form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not un- 
derstand why a man, who refused another's request, 
should draw a curse upon himself; and then it seemed 
to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby em- 
bittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain 
his object. When therefore I went to beg with my com- 
rade, I conducted myself always as if I were begging and 
cursing at the same time, but in fact I never spoke a 
single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went 
alone, I had absolutely nothing to say ; but from my 
appearance and conduct could easily be seen what was 
wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on account 
of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with 
the greatest patience. 

In this way we wandered about in a district of a few 
miles for nearly half a year. At last we resolved to turn 
our steps towards Poland. When we arrived at Posen 
we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the 
master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I 
formed the resolve, at whatever cost, to bring my 



An Autobiography. 199 

wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, and already 
began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and bare- 
foot. By this vagrant life, in which I never got any 
regular meals, for the most part had to content myself 
with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at night was 
obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare 
earth, my health had seriously suflered. Besides, the 
sacred seasons and fast-days in the Jewish calendar were 
coming on; and as at that time I was of a somewhat 
strong religious disposition, I could not endure the 
thought of passing in complete idleness this period 
which others employed for the welfare of their souls. 

I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no 
farther, and, at all events if it should come to the worst, 
to throw myself before the synagogue, and either die 
there or excite the compassion of my brethren, and by 
that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently 
as soon as my comrade awoke in the morning, began to 
make arrangements for a begging tour, and summoned 
me to the same, I told him that I would not go with 
him at present; and when he asked how I intended to 
sustain life in any other way, I was able to answer 
nothing but " God will surely help." 

I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found 
a number of scholars, some of whom were reading, 
while others took advantage of the master's absence to 
pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. 
The scholars, who were struck by my strange dress, 



200 Solomon Maitnon : 

approached and asked me whence I came and what I 
wanted. Their questions I answered in my Lithuanian 
dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry 
at my expense. For this I cared little. But I 
recollected that, some years before, a chief rabbi from 
my neighbourhood had been appointed to the same 
office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an 
acquaintance and a good friend of mine as his secretary. 
Accordingly I asked the boys about this friend. To my 
extreme grief I learned that he was no longer in Posen, 
as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the 
same office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone 
with him to that place. They told me, however, that his 
son, a boy about twelve years old, had been left behind 
in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a son-in- 
law of his predecessor. 

This information saddened me not a little. Still the 
last circumstance gave me some hope. I inquired after 
the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, and went to it ; but, 
as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and 
waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom 
I begged to be so good as to call my friend's son out. 
The boy recognised me at once, and manifested his 
astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. 
I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the mis- 
fortunes which had brought me into this state, and that 
at present he should consider merely how he might some- 
what relieve my distress. 



An Autobiography. 201 

This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, 
and announced me as a great scholar and a pious man, 
who by extraordinary accidents had fallen into a very 
miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an ex- 
cellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle 
character, was touched by my distress, and sent for me 
to come in. He conversed with me a while, discussing 
some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, and 
found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. 
Then he inquired about my intentions, and I told him 
that I wished to be introduced as a tutor into some 
family, but that meanwhile my only desire was to be able 
to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this short 
period at least to interrupt my travels. 

The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was 
concerned, to lay aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as 
a small matter, which it was nothing more than reason- 
able to want. He then gave me what money he had by 
him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long 
as I remained here, and bade his boy procure a respect- 
able lodging for me. The boy came back soon, and 
conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be only 
a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was 
therefore not a little astonished, when I found myself in 
the house of one of the oldest Jews of the town, and 
that here had been prepared for me a neat little room, 
which was the study of the master, he and his son being 

both scholars. 

o 



!02 



Solomon Maivwn 



As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the 
housewife, and, thrusting some coppers into her hand, I 
asked her to get me some gruel for supper. She began 
to smile at my simplicity, and said, " No, no, sir, that is 
not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you 
such a recommendation, that you are obliged to have us 
making you gruel for money." She then went on to ex- 
plain, that I was not only to lodge in her house, but also 
to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the 
town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; 
but my delight was still greater, when after supper I was 
shown to a clean bed. I could not believe my eyes, and 
asked several times, " Is this really for me ? " I can say 
with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have 
I felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down 
that night, and felt my limbs, which for half a year had 
been overwearied and almost broken, recovering their 
former strength in a soft bed. 

I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when 
the chief rabbi sent for me to come and see him. When 
I made my appearance he asked me how I was pleased 
with my lodging. I could not find words to express my 
feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I 
have slept in a bed ! " At this the chief rabbi was 
uncommonly pleased. He then sent for the school 
precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to 

him, " Go to the shop of , and get cloth for a suit 

to this gentleman." Thereupon he turned to me and 



yin Autohiflgraphy. 203 

asked what sort of stufT I liked. Overpowered by the 
feehng of gratitude and esteem for this excellent man I 
could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my 
cheeks served for my only answer. 

The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. 
In two days everything was ready. Dressed in my new 
linen and new suit I went to the chief rabbi. I was 
going to express my gratitude to him, but could scarcely 
get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this 
was a charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said 
that I was not to think too highly of him for this, 
inasmuch as what he had done for me w^as a mere trifle 
not worth mentioning. 

Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief 
rabbi was a wealthy man, for whom the expense to 
which he put himself on my account was really a trifle ; 
but I can give the assurance that this was far from being 
the case. He had merely a moderate income ; and as 
he occupied himself wholly with study, his wife had the 
management of his affairs, and especially the charge of 
housekeeping. Actions of this sort, therefore, had to be 
done without the knowledge of his wife, and under the 
pretext that he received from other people the money 
for the purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate 
life, fasted every day except Sabbath, and never ate 
flesh the whole week through. Nevertheless, to satisfy 
his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid making 
debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and 



204 



Solomon Maimon: 



vigils, weakened his strength to such a degree that he 
died about the thirty-sixth year of his life. His death 
took place after he had been appointed chief rabbi in 
Fordet, to which place he was followed by a large number 
of disciples. I can never think of this godly man with- 
out being deeply affected. 

In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left 
some trifles which I now went to fetch. The tailor, his 
wife, and my former comrade in beggary, who had 
already heard of the happy change in my affairs, expected 
me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching 
scene. The man, who three days before arrived in this 
poor hut, quite debilitated, half naked, and barefoot, 
whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as an 
outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse 
had looked down upon him with mockery and contempt, 
— this man (his fame before him) now comes into the 
same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb 
dressed as a chief rabbi. 

They all testified their joy and surprise at the trans- 
formation. The poor woman took her babe in her arms 
and, with tears in her eyes, begged a blessing for him. 
My comrade begged me very affectingly for forgiveness 
on account of his rough treatment. He said that he 
deemed himself fortunate in having had such a fellow- 
traveller, but would hold himself unfortunate if I would 
not forgive the faults he had committed in ignorance. I 
spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my 



An Autobiography. 205 

blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had 
in my pocket, and went back deeply affected. 

Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole 
town by the conduct towards me of the chief rabbi, as 
well as that of my new host, who was himself a scholar, 
and had formed a high opinion of my talents and learn- 
ing from frequent conversations and discussions which 
we had held together. All the scholars of the town, 
therefore, came to see me and discuss with me as a 
famous travelling rabbi ; and the more intimately they 
came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem. 

This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most 
honourable in my life. The young scholars of the town 
passed a resolution at their meeting to make up for me a 
salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on the 
celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, Moreh 
Nebhochim. This proposal, however, was never carried 
out, because the parents of these young people were 
anxious lest their children should be thereby led astray, 
and by independent thinking on religion be made to 
waver in their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, 
with all my fondness for religious speculation, I was still 
a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. But they could not 
rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, to be 
able to enter upon this course without passing from one 
extreme to the other, from superstition to unbelief ; and 
therein perhaps they were right. 

After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the 



2o6 Solomon MaUnon : 

man, with whom I lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr 
Solomon, allow me to make a proposal to you. If you 
are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain 
here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish 
to withdraw into such complete retirement, but are 
inclined to be of service to the world with your talents, 
there is a wealthy man here — one of the most prominent 
people of the town — who has an only son, and wishes 
nothing so much as to have you for his tutor. This man 
is my brother-in-law. If you will not do it for his sake, 
please do it for mine, and to gratify the chief rabbi, as 
he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who 
is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I 
accepted with delight. I came therefore into this family 
under advantageous conditions as tutor, and remained 
with them two years in the greatest honour. Nothing 
was done in the house without my knowledge. I was 
always met with the greatest respect. I was held in fact 
to be almost something more than human. 

Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and 
happily for me. But during the time some little 
incidents took place, which I believe should not be 
altogether omitted in this history. 

In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this 
house went so far, that malgr'e moi they were going to 
make me a prophet. My pupil was betrothed to the 
daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law of 
the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about 



An Autobiography. to? 

twelve years, was brought to Posen by her parcnts-in-law 
at the feast of Pentecost. On the occasion of this visit 
I observed that the girl was of a very phlegmatic 
temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned 
this to the brother of my host, and added with a signifi- 
cant look, that I was very anxious for the girl, as I did 
not believe that her health would last long. After the 
feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight 
afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. 
On this account, not only in the house where I lived, 
but in the whole town, I was taken for a prophet, who 
had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As I 
wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to 
bring these superstitious people to a different train of 
thought. I told them that anybody, who had made 
observations in the world, would have been able to fore- 
tell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all 
I was a prophet, and had to remain one. 

Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one 
Friday when they were preparing fish for the Sabbath. 
The fish was a carp, and it seemed to the cook who was 
cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw every- 
body into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should 
be done with this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. 
Under the superstitious idea that the carp was possessed 
with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it should be wrapped 
in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp. 

Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring 



2o8 Solovioji Maiinon : 

event became the subject of conversation. Having by 
this time emancipated myself pretty thoroughly from 
superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the Moreh 
NebhocJiini, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, 
that, if instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to 
me, I should have tried how such an inspired carp would 
taste. 

This hon mot became known. The learned men fell 
into a passion about it, denounced me as a heretic, and 
sought to persecute me in every way. But the respect, 
entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made 
all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way 
safe, and the spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, 
rather spurred me on to further reflection, I began to 
push matters a little farther, frequently slept through the 
time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so on. 
At last the measure of my sins became so full, that 
nothing could secure me any longer from persecution. 

At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there 
has been, no one knows for how long, a stag-horn fixed 
into the wall. The Jews are unanimously of the convic- 
tion, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die 
on the spot ; and they relate a multitude of instances in 
proof. This would not go down with me at all, and I 
made fun of it. So one day when I was passing the stag- 
horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen 
fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn 
must die on the spot? See, I dare to touch it!" 



A /I Autobiography. 209 

Horror-struck, they expected my death on the spot ; but 
as nothing happened, their anxiety for mc was con- 
verted into hatred. They looked on me as one who had 
profaned the sanctuary. 

This fanaticism stirred up in mc the desire to go to 
Berhn, and destroy by enlightenment the remnant of 
superstition which still clung to me. I therefore begged 
leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, 
that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me 
of his protection against all persecution. But as I had 
once for all taken my resolution, I was determined not 
to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye to my employer 
and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, 
and set out for Berlin. 



2IO 



Solomon Maiinon 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



Arrival in Berlin— Acquaintances — Mendelssohn— Desperate Study 
of Metaphysics — Doubts — Lectures on Locke and Adelung. 



As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require 
to remain outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined 
by the Jewish elders ; I proceeded without any difficulty 
into the city, and was allowed to take up my quarters 
where I chose. To remain in the city, however, was a 
different thing. The Jewish police-officers — L. M. of 
those days was a terrible fellow, — went every day round 
all the hotels and other houses designed for the reception 
of strangers, made inquiry into the quality and occupa- 
tion of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their 
stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found 
some occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or 
— the alternative goes without saying. I had taken a 
lodging on the New Market with a Jew, who was accus- 
tomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had 
not much to spend, and who the following day received 
a visit of this sort. 

The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined 
me in the strictest manner. I told him that I wished to 



An Autobiography. 2 1 1 

enter into service as a family-tutor in Berlin, and that 
therefore the length of my stay could not be exactly 
determined. I appeared to him suspicious ; he believed 
he had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me 
as a comet, which comes nearer to the earth the second 
time than the first, and so makes the danger more threat- 
ing. But when he saw by me a Mil loth Higgayon or 
Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated 
by Mendelssohn, he went into a perfect rage. " Yes ! yes ! " 
he exclaimed, " that's the sort of books for me ! " and as 
he turned to me with a threatening look, " Pack," he said, 
" out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to 
be led out with all the honours ! " I trembled, and knew 
not what to do ; but as I had learnt that there was a 
Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in Berlin for the 
sake of study, and received with esteem in the best 
families, I paid him a visit. 

He received me as a countryman in a very friendly 
manner, asked about my home in Poland, and what had 
brought me to Berlin. When I told him in reply, that 
from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to 
the sciences, had already made myself acquainted with 
this and that Hebrew work which touches upon these, 
and now had come to Berlin in order to be Maamik 
Bechochnah (to become absorbed in the sciences), he 
smiled at this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his 
full approval ; and after conversing with me for some 
time, he begged me to visit him often, which I very 



2 1 2 Solomon Matmon : 

willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in 
spirit. 

The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, 
and found with him some young people belonging to a 
prominent Jewish family, who visited him often, and 
conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered 
into conversation with me, found much amusement in 
my jargon, as well as in my simplicity and open-hearted- 
ness ; in particular they laughed heartily at the phrase, 
Maatnik Bechochmah, of which they had heard already. 
All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I 
should not find myself mistaken in the expectation of 
being able to be Maamik Bechochmak in Berlin. And 
when I made known my fear about the above-mentioned 
police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by promis- 
ing to obtain protection for me from their family, so that 
I might remain in Berlin as long as I chose. 

They kept their word, and Herr D P , a well- 
to-do man of excellent character, of many attainments 
and fine taste, who was an uncle of these young men, 
not only paid me much attention, but also procured for 
me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath 
dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my 
room on fixed da)s. Among these was a brother of 
these young men, in other respects an honourable man, 
who was not without attainments. But as he was a 
zealous Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with 
my inclination towards the sciences I had not quite 



A/i Autobiography. 213 

neglected the Talmud ; and as soon as he learnt, that I 
was so Maamik Bechochmah as to neglect the study of 
the Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals. 

As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought 
of nothing but how to carry my purpose into effect. 
Accidentally one day I went into a butter-shop, and found 
the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat old book 
for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no 
small astonishment, that it was \Volff's Metaphysics^ or 
the Doctrifie of God^ of the Worlds and of Man's Soul, I 
could not understand, how in a city so enlightened as 
Berlin such important works could be treated in this 
barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and 
asked him, if he would not sell the book. He was ready 
to part with it for two groschen. Without thinking long 
about it I gave the price at once, and went home 
delighted with my treasure. 

At the very first reading I was in raptures with the 
book. Not only this sublime science in itself, but also 
the order and mathematical method of the celebrated 
author, — the precision of his explanations, the exactness 
of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his 
exposition, — all this struck a new light in my mind. 

With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psycho- 
logy all went well ; but the Theology created many diffi- 
culties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, not only not in 
harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding 
propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent 



214 Solomon Matmon: 

to Wolff's argument a posteriori iox the existence of God 
in accordance with the Principle of Sufficient Reason ; 
and I raised the objection to it, that, inasmuch as, ac- 
cording to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of 
Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of 
experience, the only point which can be proved by it is, 
that every object of experience must have its sufficient 
reason in some other object of experience, but not in an 
object beyond all experience. I also compared these 
new metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, 
or rather of Aristotle, which were already known to me ; 
and I could not bring them into harmony at all. 

I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the 
Hebrew language, and to send what I wrote to Herr 
Mendelssohn, of whom I had already heard so much. 
When he received my communication, he was not a little 
astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact 
my doubts were well founded, that I should not however 
allow myself to be discouraged on their account, but 
should continue to study with the zeal with which I had 
begun. 

Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation 
in which I brought into doubt the foundations of Revealed 
as well as of Natural Theology. All the thirteen articles 
of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked with philo- 
sophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely 
the article on reward and punishment, which I conceded 
merely in its philosophical interpretation, as referring to 



An Autobiography. 215 

the natural consequences of voluntary actions. I sent 
this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was not a little 
amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the 
length of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already 
able to penetrate into their depths so far, that he was in 
a position to shake their results by means of a correct 
Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted 
his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and 
customs of the Berliners were so new to me, it was not 
without fear and embarrassment, that I ventured to enter 
a fashionable house. A\Tien therefore I opened Mendels- 
sohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were 
there, as well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, 
I shrank back, closed the door again, and had a mind 
not to 2:0 in. Mendelssohn however had observed me. 
He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into 
his room, placed himself beside me at the window, and 
paid me many compliments about my writing. He 
assured me, that, if I went on in this way, I should in a 
short time make great progress in Metaphysics ; and he 
promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with 
this, the worthy man looked after my maintenance also, 
recommended me to the most eminent, enlightened and 
wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board and 
other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy 
when I chose, and their libraries were open to my use. 

Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen 
^vas H , a man of many attainments and excellent 



2i6 Solomon Maimon : 

disposition, who was a particular friend and disciple of 
Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversa- 
tion, often discussed with me the most important subjects 
in Natural Theology and Morals, on which I expressed 
my thoughts to him quite frankly and without disguise. 
I went over with him in a conversational way all the 
systems known to me that are generally denounced, and 
defended them with the greatest pertinacity. He met 
me with objections ; I answered them, and brought in 
my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first 
this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and enter- 
tained himself with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or 
a starling that has been taught to speak a few words. 
The odd mixture of the animal in my manners, my ex- 
pressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the 
rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more 
than the subject of our conversation roused his under- 
standing. By degrees the fun was turned to earnest. He 
began to give his attention to the subjects themselves ; 
and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and attain- 
ments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness 
of his imagination generally interfered with the ripeness 
of his judgment, the results of our conversations may be 
readily imagined. 

A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the 
manner in which I conducted a discussion at the time, 
of the ellipses in my diction arising from my deficiency 
in expressions, and of the way in which I illustrated 



An Autobiography. 2 \ 7 

everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make 
Spinoza's system intelligible, — to show that all things are 
merely accidents of a single substance. My friend inter- 
rupted me and said, " But, good heavens ! are not you 
and I different men, and do we not each possess an 
existence of our own ? " " Close the shutters," I called 
in reply to his objection. This strange expression threw 
him into astonishment ; he did not know what I meant. 
At last I explained myself. " See," said I, " the sun 
shines through the windows. This square window gives 
you a square reflection, and the round window a round 
reflection. Are they on that account different things, 
and not rather one and the same sunshine ? " 

On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of 
self-love. He brought against it the objection, that we 
surely love other persons as well as ourselves. " For 
instance," said he, " I love my wife;" and to confirm this 
he gave her a kiss. " That proves nothing against me," 
I replied. " For, why do you kiss your wife ? Because 
you find pleasure in doing it." 

Herr A M also, a good honest fellow, and at 

that time a wealthy man, allowed me free access to his 
house. Here I found Locke in the German translation, 
and I was pleased with him at the first hasty glance, for 
I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, 
as a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly 

I proposed to the tutor of Herr A M , that he 

should take lessons from me on this admirable work. At 

p 



2tS Solomon Maimon: 

first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that I, who 
had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give 
lessons to him whose native tongue was German, and 
who had been brought up in the sciences. He acted, 
however, as if he found nothing offensive in the matter, 
accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. 
I presented myself at the time appointed, and began the 
lessons ; but as I could not read a word of German cor- 
rectly, I told my pupil to read aloud paragraph by para- 
graph in the text, and that then I should give him an ex- 
position of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in 
earnest, consented to this also, to carry on the joke ; but 
how great was his astonishment when he found, that no 
joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact my ex- 
positions and remarks, though delivered in my own 
peculiar language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit. 
It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted 
with the family of Widow Levi, and made the proposal 
to her son, the young Herr Samuel Levi,* who is still my 
Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me in the 
German language. The studious youth, incited by my 
reputation, was resolved to make a trial, and wished me 
to explain Adelung's German Gram7?iar. I, who had 
never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself to 
be at all disconcerted on this account.! My pupil was 



* These names are taken from Maimoniana, p. 1 08. — Trans. 
t The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to 



An Autohio^aphy. tl9 

obliged to read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only ex- 
pounded it, but added glosses of my own. In particular 
I found a good deal to take exception to in Adelung's 
philosophical explanation of the parts of speech ; and I 
drew up an explanation of my own, which I communi- 
cated to my intelligent pupil, by whom it is still 
preserved. 

As a man altogether without experience I carried my 
frankness at times a little too far, and brought upon my- 
self many vexations in consequence. I was reading 
Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth 
pleased me uncommonly ; and as his system had already 
been suggested to me by the Cabbalistic writings, I began 
to reflect upon it anew, and became so convinced of its 
truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my 
opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections 
brought against it by the Wolfians, brought objections 
against their system myself, and showed, that, if the nom- 
inal definitions of the Wolfian Ontology are converted 
into real definitions, conclusions the very opposite of 
theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the 
persistency of Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally 
in adhering to their system, except as a political dodge 



read and to understand books without any preparatory studies, and 
to which I had been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew 
to such an expertness, that I felt certain beforehand of being able 
to understand anything. 



2 20 Solomon Mat7?ion : 

and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they studiously en- 
deavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common 
in the popular mind ; and this conviction I expressed 
openly and without reserve. My friends and well-wishers, 
who for the most part had never themselves speculated 
on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the results 
of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were 
established truths, did not understand me, and therefore 
also were unable to follow me in my opinions. 

Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not 
wish to oppose my love of inquiry, secretly even took 
pleasure in it, and said, that at present indeed I was not 
on the right road, but that the course of my thoughts 
must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly re- 
>^^ marked, doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical 
speculation. 



An Autobiography. 



aai 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Mendelssohn— A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend. 

Quis desiderio sit pu dor aui modus tarn cari capitis 1 

The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the 
world, to make it necessary for me here to dwell long on 
the portraiture of the great intellectual and moral qualities 
of this celebrated man of our nation. I shall sketch 
merely those prominent features of his portrait, which 
have made the strongest impression upon me. He was 
a good Talmudist, and a pupil of the celebrated Rabbi 
Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after the title of a 
Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the 
strength of Israel), — a Polish rabbi who was denounced 
for heresy by his countrymen. This rabbi had, besides 
his great Talmudic capabilities and acquirements, a good 
deal of scientific talent, especially in mathematics, with 
which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in 
Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, 
as may be seen in the above-mentioned work. In this 
work there are introduced solutions of many important 
mathematical problems, which are applied either to the 



2 2 2 Solomon Maiinon : 

explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or 
to the determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course 
was more interested in the extension of useful knowledge 
among his countrymen than in the determination of a 
law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. 
He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews 
in our part of the world to turn exactly to the East at 
prayer ; for the Talmudic law requires them to turn to 
Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies north-west 
from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. 
He shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, 
the required direction may be determined with the utmost 
exactness in all parts of the world, and many other truths 
of a similar kind. Along with the celebrated Chief 
Rabbi Frankel, he contributed much to develop the great 
abilities of Mendelssohn. 

Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with 
mathematics ; and this science he valued, not only for its 
self-evidence, but also as the best exercise in profound 
reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well 
enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new 
systems ; he had however amended the old systems, 
especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and had apphed it with 
success to many subjects in philosophy. 

It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed 
with more acuteness or with depth of intellect. Both 
faculties were found united in him in a very high degree. 
His exactness in definition and classification, and his fine 



An Autobiography. 223 

distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his 
profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter. 

In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by 
nature a man of strong passions, but by long exercise in 
Stoical morality he had learnt to keep them under 
control. A young man, under the impression that 
Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to 
upbraid him, and indulged in one impertinence after 
another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on a chair, never 
turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his 
impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After 
the young man had vented all his passion, Mendelssohn 
went to him and said, " Go ! You see that you fail to 
reach your object here; you can't make me angry." 
Still on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal 
his sorrow at the weakness of human nature. Not infre- 
quently I was myself overheated in my disputes with him, 
and violated the respect due to such a man, — a fact on 
which I still reflect with remorse. 

Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human 
nature, — a knowledge which consists not so much in 
seizing some unconnected features of a character, and 
representing them in theatrical fashion, as in discovering 
those essential features of a character, from which all the 
others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. 
He was able to describe accurately all the springs of 
action and the entire moral wheelwork of a man, and 
understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. This 



2 24 Solomon Mai?non : 

gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other 
dealings with men, but also to his literary labours. 

Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art 
of throwing himself into another person's mode of 
thought. He could thus supply whatever was deficient, 
and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews 
newly arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the 
most part confused, and whose language is an unin- 
telligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand perfectly. 
In his conversations with them he adopted their 
expressions and forms of speech, sought to bring down 
his mode of thinking to theirs, and thus to raise theirs to 
his own. 

He understood also the art of finding out the good 
side of every man and of every event. Not infrequently, 
therefore, he found entertainment in people whose 
intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, 
is by others avoided ; and only downright stupidity and 
dullness were offensive to him, though they were so in 
the highest degree. I was once an eye-witness of the 
manner in which he entertained himself with a man ot 
the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extra- 
vagant behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, 
and after the man was gone I asked Mendelssohn in 
wonder, " How could you have anything to do with this 
fellow ? " " We examine attentively," he said, " a 
machine whose construction is unknown to us, and we 
seek to make intelligible its mode of working. Should 



An Autobiography, 225 

not this man claim a like attention ? should wc not seek 
in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, 
since he certainly has his springs of action and his 
wheel-work as well as any machine ? " 

In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to 
a system once adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn him- 
self, and took advantage of the slightest inaccuracy in 
his opponent's way of thinking. On the other hand, 
with a more accommodating thinker he was accommo- 
dating also, and used commonly to close the discussion 
with the words, "We must hold fast, not to mere words, 
but to the things they signify." 

Nothing was so offensive to him as an esprit de 
bagatelle or affectation ; with anything of this sort he 

could not conceal his displeasure. H once invited 

a party, in which Mendelssohn was the principal guest, 
and he entertained them the whole time with talk about 
some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest 
kind. Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never 
deigning to give the slightest attention to the worthless 

creature. Madam was a lady who affected an 

excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such 
characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort 
praise from others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to 
reason by showing her impressively how exceptionable 
her conduct was and how she ought to think seriously 
about improvement. 

In a disconnected conversation he took little part him- 



2 2 6 Solomon Maimon : 

self ; he acted rather as observer then, and took pleasure 
in watching the conduct of the rest of the company. If, 
on the other hand, the conversation was coherent, he 
took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful 
turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, 
give it a useful direction. 

Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; 
matters of the greatest moment kept him in restless 
activity, such as the principles of Morals and of Natural 
Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all these 
branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply 
interested, he has also, as I hold, done as much as can 
be done on the principles of the Leibnitio-Wolfian philo- 
sophy. Perfection was the compass which he had con- 
stantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in 
all these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the 
highest perfection, and the idea of the highest perfection 
lies at the basis of his Ethics. The principle of his 
i^sthetics is sensuous perfection. 

My discussion with him on our first acquaintance 
referred mainly to the following points. I was a faithful 
adherent of Maimonides before I became acquainted 
with modern philosophy ; and, as such, I insisted on the 
negation * of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as 
these can be represented by us only as finite. Accord- 



* Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of Vercini- 
gung for Verncinimg. — Trans. 



A /I Autobiography. 227 

ingly I proposed the following dilemma : Either God is 
Ttot the absolutely perfect being, in which case his attri- 
butes may by us be not only conceived, but also knaivn, 
that is, represented as realities belonging to an object ; 
or He is the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea 
of God is conceived by us, but its reality is merely 
assumed as problematic. Mendelssohn, on the other 
hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of 
all realities, — a position which goes very well with the 
Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order 
to prove the reality of an idea, nothing more than that it 
is thinkable, that is, fulfils the law of Non-Contradic- 
tion. 

My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed 
at the attainment of free will and the ascendency of 
reason over the feelings and passions. It made the 
highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his 
differentia specifica, the knowledge of the truth ; and all 
other impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, 
were to be put in operation merely as means to this chief 
end. The knowledge of the good was not distinguished 
by me from the knowledge of the true ; for, following 
Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the 
highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, 
maintained that the idea of perfection, which lies at the 
basis of Ethics, is of much wider extent than the mere 
knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, capacities 
and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely 



2 28 Solomon Maivion : 

as means to something good), were to be brought into 
exercise as reahties. The highest perfection was the idea 
of the maximum, or the greatest sum, of these realities. 

The immortality of the soul, for me, following 
Maimonides, consisted in the union with the Universal 
Spirit of that part of the faculty of knowledge which has 
been brought into exercise, in proportion to the degree 
of that exercise ; and in accordance with this doctrine I 
held those only to be partakers of this immortality, who 
occupy themselves with the knowledge of eternal truths, 
and in the degree in which they do so. The soul, there- 
fore, must, with the attainment of this high immortality, 
lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance 
with modern philosophy, thought differently on this sub- 
ject, every one will readily believe. 

His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive 
religion I can give here, not as something made known 
to me by himself, but merely in so far as I have been 
able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in 
his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. 
For at that time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained 
all revealed religion as in itself false, and its use, so far 
as the writings of Mendelssohn had enabled me to 
understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a 
man without experience, I thought it an easy matter to 
convince others in opposition to their firmly rooted 
habits and long-cherished prejudices, while I assumed 
the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted. 



An Autohio^aphy. 229 

Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any convcrsa 
tion with me on the subject, since he could not but fear 
lest, as has happened, and happens still, in the case of 
several others, I should pronounce his arguments in 
reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute 
motives to him on that account. From his utterances, 
however, in the preface to his Majiasseh ben Israel as well 
as in his Jerusalem, it is clear that, though he did not 
consider any revealed doctrines to be eternal truths, yet 
he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that 
he held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the funda- 
mental laws of a theocratic constitution, to be immutable 
as far as circumstances allow. 

So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely 
to Mendelssohn's reasoning by my own reflections on the 
fundamental laws of the religion of my fathers. The 
fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the same 
time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They 
must therefore be obeyed by all who acknowledge them- 
selves to be members of this state, and who wish to 
enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of their 
obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who 
separates himself from this state, who desires to be 
considered no longer a member of it, and to renounce 
all his rights as such, whether he enters another state or 
betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no 
longer bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to 
Mendelssohn's remark, that a Jew cannot, by simply 



230 Solomon Maimon: 

passing over to the Christian religion, free himself from 
the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of Nazareth 
observed these laws himself and commanded his 
followers to observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to 
be no longer a member of this theocratic state, and goes 
over to the heathen religion, or to the philosophical, 
which is nothing more than pure natural religion ? How^, 
if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to 
its laws, and demands from it his rights in return, with- 
out making any declaration whatever about his religion, 
since the state is reasonable enough not to require from 
him a declaration with which it has nothing to do ? I 
do not believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in 
this case a Jew is bound in conscience to observe the 
laws of his fathers' religion merely because it is the 
religion of his fathers. As far as is known, Mendelssohn 
lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. 
Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still 
a member of the theocratic state of his fathers, and 
consequently acted up to his duty in this respect. But 
any man who abandons this state is acting just as little 
in violation of his duty. 

On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who 
from family attachments and interests profess the Jewish 
religion, to transgress its laws, where, according to their 
own opinion, these do not stand in the way of those 
motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of 
Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who 



An Aittohio^aphy. jy 

openly transgressed the laws of his religion, and who was 
on that account excommunicated by the chief rabbi. 
Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on 
the ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. 
But how can he then maintain the perpetuity of the 
Jewish ecclesiastical state ? P'or what is a state without 
rights, and wherein consists, according to Mendelssohn, 
the rights of this ecclesiastical state ? " How," says 
Mendelssohn, (in the preface to Matiasseh ben Israel, p. 
48), " can a state allow one of its useful and respected 
citizens to suffer misfortune through its laws ? " Surely 
not, I reply ; but the Hamburg Jew suffers no mis- 
fortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required 
only to say or do nothing which legally leads to this 
result, and he would then have avoided the sentence. 
For excommunication is merely tantamount to saying : — 
" So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws 
of our communion, you are excluded from it ; and you 
m.ust therefore make up your mind whether this open 
disobedience or the privileges of our communion can 
most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot 
have escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it 
to others to decide how far a man may be inconsistent 
for the sake of human welfare. 

Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the 
hands of otherwise estimable men, from whom such 
treatment might least have been expected. I^vater's 
officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by 



2y. 



Solomon Maimon 



all right-thinking men* The profound Jacobi had a 
predilection for Spinozisnn, with which surely no inde- 
pendent thinker can find fault, and wanted to make out 
Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be 
Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he 
published a correspondence on the subject, which was 
never intended to appear in print, and be subjected to 
public inspection. What was the use of this ? If 
Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. 
Eternal truths have nothing to do with the majority of 
votes, and least of all where, as I hold, the truth is of 
such a nature, that it leaves all expression behind. 

Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much 
annoyance. A celebrated physician maintained even. 



* The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had 
translated into German a work, which had a great reputation in its 
day, by the eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences 
of Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated 
the translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the 
work, or to do " what policy, love of truth, and probity demand, — 
what Socrates would doubtless have done, had he read the work, 
and found it unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an 
awkward dilemma. He could not well let the challenge pass un- 
acknowledged ; and yet, owing to the disabilities under which the 
Jews laboured all over the world, he would have seriously imperilled 
their interests by appearing even to impugn the evidences of 
Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never to enter into 
religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply was 
masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake ; 
and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in 
the fullest and frankest manner. — Trans, 



An Autobiography. 23 j 

that it caused his death ; but, though I am not a 
physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. Mendels- 
sohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, 
was that of a hero. No, no ! this hero died in the fifth 
act. 

The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after 
Mendelssohn's death, a book entitled. Examination of 
Mendelssohn^ s Morgenstunden, in which he shows that, 
according to the Critique of Pure Reason^ all meta- 
physical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But 
why does this concern Mendelssohn more than any other 
metaphysician ? Mendelssohn did nothing but develop 
to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, 
apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, 
and clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one 
were to attack Maimonides, who has written an excellent 
astronomical treatise on Ptolemaic principles, by writing 
a book with the title, Exa??iination of the Hilchoth 
Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides^ in which he should 
seek to refute his author on Newtonian principles ! But 
enough of this. 



234 Solomon Maimon 



CHAPTER XXV. 

My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent conversion 
— Departure from Berlin — Sojourn in Hamburg — I drown 
myself in the same way as a bad actor shoots himself — An old 
fool of a woman falls in love with me, but her addresses are 
rejected. 

For belles lettres I discovered not the slightest inclina- 
tion ; I could not even conceive how any man was 
to form a science of what pleases or displeases — a matter 
which, according to my opinion at the time, could have 
merely a subjective ground. One day when I was 
taking a walk with Mendelssohn, our conversation fell 
upon the subject of the poets, whom he recommended 
me to read. " No," I replied, " I am going to read 
none of the poets. What is a poet but a har?" 
Mendelssohn smiled at this and said, " You agree in this 
with Plato, who banished all poets from his Republic. 
But I hope that with time you will think differently on 
the subject. And so it happened soon. 

Longinus' On the Sublime fell into my hand. The 
examples of the sublime which he adduces from Homer, 
and particularly the celebrated passage of Sappho, made 
a deep impression on my mind. I thought to myself, 
these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery 



An Autobiography. 



«35 



and descriptions are really very beautiful. After that i 
read Homer himself, and was forced to laugh heartily at 
the foolish fellow. What a serious air, I said to myself, 
over such childless stories ! By and by, however I 
found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, 
on the other hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of 
course only in German translations) produced on me a 
peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp of his style, 
the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of 
his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described 
by him, and lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of 
the Hebrews, charmed me uncommonly. Thus I found 
also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's Idylls. 

My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding 
chapter, who occupied himself mainly with belles lettres^ 
was greatly delighted at my conversion. I used to dis- 
pute with him the utility of these studies ; and once, 
when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in ex- 
pression a passage of the Psalms, in which King David 
shows himself a master in cursing, I interrupted him 
with the words, " What sort of an art is this ? Why, my 
mother-in-law — God bless her ! — when she was squab- 
bling with a neighbour woman, used to curse much more 
wildly than that ! " 

Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Men- 
delssohn also and my other friends were uncommonly 
pleased at this change. They wished ine to devote my- 
self regularly to the humaniora^ as without these a man 



236 Solomon Mai?non : 

can scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful 
to the world. It was very difficult, however, to convince 
me of this. I was always in haste to enjoy the present, 
without thinking that, by due preparation, I could make 
this enjoyment greater and more lasting. 

I now found gratification, not only in the study of the 
sciences, but generally in everything good and beautiful, 
with which I became acquainted ; and I carried this out 
with an enthusiasm which passed all limits. The hither- 
to suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense also 
asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the 
following. For many years some men, who were occu- 
pied in various kinds of teaching, had insinuated them- 
selves into the most prominent and wealthy families of 
the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially 
to the French language (which was then regarded as the 
highest point of enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, 
bookkeeping, and similar studies. They had also made 
themselves familiar with some phrases and imperfectly 
understood results of the more profound sciences and 
philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the 
fair sex was marked by studious gallantry. As a result 
of all this, they were great favourites in the families 
where they visited, and were regarded as clever fellows. 
Now, they began to observe that my reputation was al- 
ways on the increase, and that the respect for my attain- 
ments and talents went so far, that they were being 
thrown wholly into the shade. Accordingly they thought 



An Autobiography. ajy 

of a stratagem, by which they might he able to ward off 
the threatened evil. 

They resolved to draw me into their company, to show 
me every demonstration of friendship, and to render me 
every possible service. By this means they hoped, in the 
first place, as a result of our intercourse, to win for them- 
selves some of the respect which was shown to me, and, 
in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and com- 
municative spirit, some additional knowledge of those 
sciences which as yet they knew only in name. But, in 
the third place, as they knew my enthusiasm for every- 
thing which I once recognised as good, they expected to 
intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, 
and to cool in some measure my ardour in the study of 
science, which would at the same time alienate my 
friends, my intimacy with whom made them so jealous. 

Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified 
their friendship and esteem for me, and begged the 
honour of my company. Suspecting no harm, I received 
their advances with pleasure, especially as I reflected 
that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand 
for everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore 
a very desirable object with me, to find some friends of 
a middle class, with whom I could associate sans fafon^ 
and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My new friends 
took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure excur- 
sions, at last also to ; * and all this at their own 



* This •' hiatus haud valde deflendus " is in the original.— Trans. 



238 Solomon Maimon : 



expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, 
opened up to them in return all the mysteries of 
philosophy, explained to them in detail all the peculiar 
systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of 
human knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be 
poured into a man's head, and as these gentlemen had 
no special capacity for them, of course they were not 
able to make any great progress by this kind of instruc- 
tion. When I observed this, I began to express some 
sort of contempt for them, and made no attempt to 
conceal the fact, that it was mainly the roast and the 
wine that gave me pleasure in their company. This did 
not please them particularly ; and as they were unable to 
reach their object with me completely, they tried to 
reach it at least in part. They told tales to my grand 
friends behind my back about the most trifling incidents 
and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I 
charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypo- 
crite, that I declared others to be endowed with but 
shallow pates, that I was seeking to spread dangerous 
systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to Epi- 
cureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics !) They even 
began at last openly to manifest their enmity. 

All this of course had its effect ; and to add to the 
impression, my friends observed that in my studies I 
followed no fixed plan, but merely my inclination. Ac- 
cordingly they proposed to me that I should study 
medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed 



An Autobiography. 239 

that the theory of medicine contains many departmcnls 
as auxiliary sciences, each of which requires a specialist 
for its thorough mastery, while the practice of medicine 
implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that 
are seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, 
that the most of physicians take advantage of the ignor- 
ance of the public. In accordance with established 
usage they spend some years at the universities, where 
they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the 
lectures, but in point of fact attend very few. At the 
close of their course, by means of money and fair words, 
they get a dissertation written for them \ and thus, after 
a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners. 

As already mentioned, I had a great liking for paint- 
ing ; but I was advised against this, because I was already 
well advanced in years, and consequently might not have 
sufficient patience for the minute exercises required for 
this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn 
pharmacy ; and as I had already obtained some acquain- 
tance with physics as well as chemistry, I consented. 
My object in this, however, was not to make any 
practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire 
theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting 
to with my own hands, and thereby acquiring expertness 
in this art, at important chemical processes I played the 
part of a mere spectator. In this way I learnt pharmacy, 
yet without being in the position of becoming an apothe- 
cary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship, 



240 Solomon Maimon : 

Madame Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was 
duly paid by H. J. D. the promised fee of sixty thalers. 
I received a certificate, that 1 had perfectly mastered the 
art of pharmacy ; and this ended the whole matter. 

This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my 
friends. At last Mendelssohn asked me to come and 
see him, when he informed me of this alienation, and 
pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (i) 
that I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and 
had thereby rendered fruitless all their exertions in my 
behalf; (2) that I was trying to spread dangerous 
opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to general 
rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very 
much addicted to sensual pleasures. 

The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer 
by referring to the fact, which I had mentioned to my 
friends at the very first, that, in consequence of my pe- 
culiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of business, 
and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which 
I could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, 
by teaching and similar means, provide for my support 
in a certain fashion. " As to the second point/' I pro- 
ceeded, *' the opinions and systems referred to are either 
true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the 
knowledge of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, 
then let them be refuted. Moreover, I have explained 
these opinions and systems only to gentlemen who desire 
to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But 



I 



An Autobiography. 241 

the truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the 
opinions, it is the incapacity of those gentlemen to com- 
prehend them, coupled with their reluctance to make 
such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms 
against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, 
I must say with downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, 
we are all Epicureans. The moralists can prescribe to 
us merely rules of prudence ; that is to say, they can 
prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given 
ends, but not the ends themselves. But," I added, " I 
see clearly that I must quit Berlin ; whither, is a matter 
of indifference." With this I bade Mendelssohn fare- 
well. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my 
capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous 
journey. 

To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in briei 
but emphatic terms thanked them for the favours they 
had shown. One of my friends was taken aback, when 
I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I hope 
you will enjoy good health, my dear friend ; and I thank 
you for all the favours you have bestowed upon me.'' It 
seemed to this excellent, but prosaically poetical man, as 
if the form were too curt and dry for all his friendliness 
towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, " Is 
this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no 
answer, however, but went away, booked by the Ham- 
burg post, and departed from Berlin. 



242 Solomon Maimon : 

On leaving I received from Samuel Levi* a letter of 
introduction to one of his correspondents. When I 
arrived in Hamburg, I went to the merchant to whom 
this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He received 
me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in 
the city. But as he knew nothing except how to make 
money, and took no particular interest in scholarship or 
science, he evidently entertained me merely on account 
of my letter of introduction, because he had to do some- 
thing to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing 
of trade, however, and besides made no very presentable 
figure, he endeavoured to get rid of me as soon as 
possible, and with a view to that asked me where I 
meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied 
that I was going to Holland, he gave me the well-meant 
advice to hasten my departure, as this was the best 
season of the year for travelling. 

Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg 
vessel that was to sail for Holland in two or three weeks. 
For travelling companions I had two barbers, a tailor, 
and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves 
merry, caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In 
this joviality I could not take a part ; in fact they scarcely 
understood my language, and teased me on that account 
in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with patience. 
The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village 

* This name is taken from Maimoniana, —Trans, 



/in Autobio^S^raphy. 343 

at the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. 
Here we were obliged to lie about six weeks, prevented 
by contrary winds from putting out to sea. The ship's 
crew, along with the other passengers, went to the village 
tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, 
the time became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, 
that I nearly despaired of my recovery. 

At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out 
to sea, and on the third day after our departure we 
arrived before Amsterdam. A boat came out to the ship 
to take the passengers into the city. At first I would not 
trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid 
of falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I 
had been warned in Hamburg ; but the captain of our 
ship assured me that he knew the boatman well, and that 
I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. Accord- 
ingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances 
here, and as I knew that at the Hague there was a 
gentleman belonging to a prominent Berlin family, and 
that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor with whom I 
was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat. 

Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish 
woman ; but before I had time to rest from my journey, 
a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy clothing, and with 
a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing 
me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she 

said to him, " Herr H , here is a stranger from 

Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man thereupon 



244 Solomon Maimon : 

turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual 
instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I 
was born in Poland, that my love of the sciences had 
induced me to spend some years in Berlin, and that now 
I had come to Holland with the intention of entering 
some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When 
he heard that I was a man of learning, he began to 
speak with me on various subjects in philosophy, and 
especially in mathematics, in which he had done a good 
deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and 
we formed at once a bond of friendship with one another. 
I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I 
referred before. He introduced me to his employer as 
a man of high talent, who had made a great figure in 
Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from that 
city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as 
well as of everything that came from Berlin, invited me 
to dinner. As my external appearance did not appear 
to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly exhausted 
and depressed by m.y sea-voyage, I made a comical figure 
at table, and our host evidently did not know what to 
think of me. But as he put great confidence in the 
written recommendation of Mendelssohn and the oral 
recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonish- 
ment, and invited me to his table as long as I chose to 
remain here. In the evening he invited his brothers-in- 
law to meet me. They were children of B , cele- 
brated for his wealth as well as his beneficence ; and as 



\ 



An Autobiography. 2^r 

they were men of learning themselves, they were exix;rtcd 
to sound me. They conversed with me on various sub- 
jects in the Talmud, and even in the Cabbalah. As I 
showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of 
this sort of learning, even explained to them passages 
which they regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most 
complicated knots of argument, their admiration was ex- 
cited, and they believed they had come upon a great 
man. 

It was not long, however, before their admiration 
turned to hatred. The occasion of this was the follow- 
ing. In connection with the Cabbalah they told me of 
a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident 
of London, and who was able to perform miracles by 
means of the Cabbalah. I expressed some doubts on 
the subject, but they assured me they had been present 
at performances of the kind during this man's residence 
at the Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that 
I did not indeed question the truth of their statement, 
but that perhaps they had not duly investigated the mat- 
ter themselves, and gave out their pre-conceived opinions 
as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard with 
scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it 
is shown that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be 
explained in accordance with the known laws of Nature. 
This declaration they held to be heresy. 

At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to 
me, that I might, in accordance with the usual custom, 



246 Solomon Mainion: 

pronounce the blessing over it. This however I declined 
with the explanation, that I did so not from any false 
shame of speaking before a number of men, because in 
Poland I had been a rabbi, and had very often held dis- 
putations and delivered sermons before large assemblies, 
and, in order to prove this, was now willing to deliver 
public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained 
further, the love of truth and the reluctance to do any- 
thing inconsistent, that made it impossible for me, with- 
out manifest aversion, to say prayers which I regarded as 
a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology. 

At this their patience was completely exhausted ; they 
reviled me as a damnable heretic, and declared it would 
be a deadly sin to tolerate me in a Jewish house. Our 
host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a reasonable 
and enlightened man, did not mind much what they 
said ; my humble talents were of more value in his eyes 
than my piety. Accordingly they broke up immediately 
after dinner, and left the house in deep displeasure ; but 
all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their 
brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it 
about nine months, lived at perfect freedom, but very re- 
tired, without any occupation or any rational society. 

Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which 
was remarkable both in a psychological and in a moral 
point of view. In Holland I wanted nothing but an 
occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, 
I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not 



An Autobiography. 247 

infrequently I fell upon the idea of making' away with 
myself, and of thus putting an end to an existence which 
had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I come 
to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper 
hand again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accord- 
ance with the custom of the Jews, I had banquetted very 
heartily in the house where I took my meals. After the 
feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging ; and as 
I had to pass along one of the canals that are laid out 
everywhere in Holland, it occurred to me that this was 
a very convenient opportunity for carrying out the design 
which I had often formed. I thought to myself, " My 
life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants ; 
but how wnll it be with me in the future, and by what 
means shall I preserve my life, since I am of no use fur 
anything in the world? I have already resolved, on 
cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my 
life, and nothing but my cowardice has restrained me 
hitherto. Now, when I am pretty drunk, on the brink 
of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a moment 
without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body 
over the canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper 
part of the body obeyed the command of the mind, 
trusting that the lower part would certainly refuse 
its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a 
good while with half the body bent over the water, 
and propped myself carefully with my legs firmly 
planted on the ground, so that a spectator might 



2^8 Solomon Maimon: 

have fancied I was merely making my bow to the 
water. This hesitation destroyed my whole plan. I 
felt like a man who is going to take medicine, but, want- 
ing the resolution required, raises the cup time after time 
to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to 
laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for 
suicide was a real superfluity for the present and an 
imaginary want for the future.* I therefore let the 
project drop for the time being, went home, and thus 
brought the serio-comic scene to an end. 

Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. 
At the Hague there lived at that time a woman of about 
forty-five, who was said to have been very pretty in youth, 
and supported herself by giving lessons in French. One 
day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced her- 
self, and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific 
conversation. She declared therefore that she would 



* The love of life, that is, the instinct of self-preservation, seems 
rather to increase than to decrease with the diminution or un- 
certainty of the means of living, inasmuch as man is thereby spurred 
to greater activity, which developes a stronger consciousness of life. 
Only this want must not have reached its maximum ; for the neces- 
sary resuh of that is despair, that is a conviction of the impossibility 
of preserving life, and consequently a desire to put an end to it. 
Thus every passion, and therefore also the love of life, is increased 
by the obstacles which come in the way of its gratification : only 
these obstacles must not make the gratification of the passions im- 
possible, else despair is the result. 



An Autobiography. 249 

visit me frequently in my lodging, and requested the 
honour of a visit from me in return. 

This advance I met with great pleasure, reluiiKu .ur 
visits several times ; and thus our intercourse became 
more and more intimate. We conversed usually on 
subjects in philosophy and belles lettres. As 1 was still 
at that time a married man, and, except for her 
enthusiasm in learning, Madam had little attraction for 
me, I thought of nothing beyond mere entertainment. 
The lady, however, who had been a widow now for a 
pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, 
conceived an affection for me, began to express this by 
looks and words in a romantic manner, which struck me 
as very comical. I could never believe, that a lady could 
fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of affec- 
tion therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, 
on the other hand, showed herself more and more in 
earnest, became at times thoughtful in the midst of our 
conversation, and burst into tears. 

It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell 
upon the subject of love. I told her frankly, that I could 
not love a woman except for the sake of womanly excel- 
lences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, etc., and 
that any other excellences she might possess, such as 
talents or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but 
by no means love. The lady adduced against me argu- 
ments a priori as well as instances from experience, 
especially from French novels, and tried to correct my 

R 



250 Solomon Maimon: 

notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily con- 
vinced ; and as the lady was carrying her airs to an 
absurd length, I rose and took my leave. She accom- 
panied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, 
and would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, 
" What's the matter with you, madam ?" With trembling 
voice and tearful eyes she replied, " I love you." 

When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began 
to laugh immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and 
rushed away. Some time afterwards she sent me the 
following billet doux : — 

" Sir, 

I have been greatly mistaken in your character. 

I took you for a man of noble thoughts and exalted feel- 
ings ; but I see now that you are a genuine Epicurean. 
You seek nothing but pleasure. A woman can please 
you only on account of her beauty. A Madame Dacier, 
for example, who has studied thoroughly all the Greek 
and Latin authors, translated them into her native 
language, and enriched them with learned annotations, 
could not please you. Why ? Because she is not 
pretty. Sir, you, who are otherwise so enlightened, 
ought to be ashamed to cherish such pernicious prin- 
ciples ; and if you will not repent, then tremble before 
the revenge of the injured love of 

Yours, etc." 

To this I returned the following reply : — 



An Autobiogra/>hy. t^X 

" Madam, 

That you have been mistaken, is shown 
by the result. You say that I am a genuine Epicurean. 
In this you do me a great honour. Much as I abhor the 
title of an epicure, on the other hand I feel proud of the 
title of genuine Epicurean. Certainly it is beauty alone 
that pleases me in a woman ; but as this can be height- 
ened by other qualities, these must also be pleasing as 
means towards the chief end. On the other hand, I can 
merely estee?n such a woman on account of her talents ; 
love her I cannot, as I have already explained in conver- 
sation. For the learning of Madame Dacier I have all 
respect : she could at all events fall in love with the 
Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and expect 
in return the love of their manes that were constantly 
hovering around her ; but nothing more. For the rest. 
Madam, as far as your revenge is concerned, I do not 
fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has shat- 
tered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails. 

Yours, etc." 

Thus ended this strange love-affair. 

I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for mc 
to do, inasmuch as the main desire of the Dutch Jews is 
to make money, and they manifest no particular liking 
for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not know- 
ing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions 
in any science. I determined therefore to return to 



252 Solomon Mahnon : 

Berlin by Hamburg, but found an opportunity of travel- 
ling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went to a 
wealthy Jew, — a man who does not deserve even to 
enjoy his riches, — showed him my letter of introduction 
from Mendelssohn, and represented to him the urgency 
of my present circumstances. He read Mendelssohn's 
letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, 
without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot : — " I 
also hereby certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes 
in praise of Herr Solomon is perfectly correct." And 
with this he dismissed me. 



An Auiohiop-aphy. j?^ 



I 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



I return to Hamburg— A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a 
scabby Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian 
Fold— I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten the Chicl Rabbi 
out of his Wits. 



I MADE a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here 
I fell into circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodu'cd 
in a miserable house, had nothing to eat, and did not 
know what to do. I had received too much education 
to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without 
rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the 
darkness of superstition and ignorance, from which I had 
hardly delivered rnyself with so much labour. On the 
other hand, to succeed in Germany was a result on which 
I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the 
language, as well as of the manners and customs of the 
people, to which I had never yet been able to adapt my- 
self properly. I had learnt no particular profession, I 
had not distinguished myself in any special science, I 
was not even master of any language in which I could 
make myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, 
therefore, that for me there was no alternative left, but 
to embrace the Christian religion, and get myself baptised 



2 54 Solomon Maifnon : 

in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the first 
clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my 
resolution, as well as of my motives for it, without any 
hypocrisy, in a truthful and honest fashion. But as I 
could not express myself well orally, I put my thoughts 
into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to 
a schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German 
characters. The purport of my letter was in brief as 
follows : — 

"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish 
nation, destined by my education and studies to be a 
rabbi ; but in the thickest darkness I have perceived 
some light. This induced me to search further after 
light and truth, and to free myself completely from the 
darkness of superstition and ignorance. In order to this 
end, which could not be attained in my native place, I 
came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened 
men of our nation I studied for some years — not indeed 
after any plan, but merely to satisfy my thirst for know- 
ledge. But as our nation is unable to use, not only such 
planless studies, but even those conducted on the most 
perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of 
them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be use- 
less. I have therefore resolved, in order to secure tem- 
poral as well as eternal happiness, which depends on the 
attainment of perfection, and in order to become useful 
to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian re- 
ligion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its ar- 



Afi Autobiography. jee 

tides of faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But 
in practical use the latter has an advantage over the for- 
mer ; and since morality, which consists not in opinions 
but in actions, is the aim of all religion in general, clearly 
the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. 
Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion 
for that which they are, that is, allegorical representations 
of the truths that are most important for man. By this 
means I make my faith in them harmonise with reason, 
but I cannot believe them according to their common 
meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer 
to the question, whether after this confession I am 
worthy of the Christian religion or not. In the former 
case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect ; but in 
the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which 
enjoins me to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith 
which contradicts my reason." 

The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into 
astonishment at my audacity ; never before had he 
listened to such a confession of faith. He shook his 
head with much concern, interrupted the writing several 
times, and became doubtful, whether the mere copying 
was not itself a sin. With great reluctance he copied it 
out, merely to get rid of the thing. I went then to a 
prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged 
for a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise 
into astonishment, and on finishing entered into conver- 
sation with me. 



256 Solomon Maimon : 

"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace 
the Christian religion, merely in order to improve your 
temporal circumstances." 

" Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, " I think I have 
made it clear enough in my letter, that my object is the 
attainment of perfection. To this, it is true, the removal 
of all hindrances and the improvement of my external 
circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this 
condition is not the chief end." 

" But," said the pastor, " do you not feel any inclina- 
tion of the soul to the Christian religion without reference 
to any external motives ? " 

" I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an 
affirmative answer." 

" You are too much of a philosopher," replied the 
pastor, " to be able to become a Christian. Reason has 
taken the upper hand with you, and faith must accom- 
modate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the 
Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands 
to be mere laws of reason. For the present I cannot be 
satisfied with your confession of faith. You should there- 
fore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with His 
grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; 
and then come to me again." 

" If that is the case," I said, " then I must confess, 
Herr Pastor, that I am not qualified for Christianity. 
Whatever light I may receive, I shall always make it 
luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe 



An Autobiography. jr^ 

that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to 
see their connection with the truths already known to 
me. I must therefore remain what I am, — a stifTneckcd 
Jew. My religion enjoins me to bcliri'c nothing, but to 
think the truth and to practise goodness. If I find any 
hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not 
my fault. I do all that lies in my power." 

With this I bade the pastor goodbye. 

The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, 
brought on an ague. I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, 
and suffered the want of all conveniences and refresh- 
ments. ]My landlord, who took pity on me, called a 
Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon 
cured me of my fever. The doctor found that I was no 
common man, stayed to converse with me for some 
hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit 
him. 

Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known 
me in Berlin, heard of my arrival. He called on me to 

say that Herr W , who had seen me in Berlin, was 

now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very pro- 
perly call upon him. I did so, and Herr W , who 

was a very clever, honourable man, of a benevolent dis- 
position naturally, asked me what I intended to do. I 
represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged 
for his advice. He said that in his opinion the un- 
fortunate position of my affairs arose from the fact, 
that I had devoted myself with zeal merely to the ac- 



25 S Solomon Maimon: 

quisition of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the 
study of language, and therefore I was unable to com- 
municate my knowledge to others, or make any use of it. 
Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been lost by delay ; 
and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the 
circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium 
at Altona, where his son was studying, while he would 
provide for my support. 

I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home 

with a joyful heart. Meanwhile Herr W spoke to 

the professors of the gymnasium, as well as to the prin- 
cipal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr G , 

a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He repre- 
sented to them, that I was a man of uncommon talents, 
who wanted merely some further knowledge of language 
to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped to 
obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gym- 
nasium. They acceded to his request. I was matricu- 
lated, and had a room assigned to me, in the institution. 

Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. 
But the pupils in such a gymnasium, as may be easily 
supposed, make very slow progress ; and it was therefore 
natural that I, who had already made considerable attain- 
ments in science, should find the lessons at times some- 
what tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, 
but made a selection to suit my taste. The Director 
Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of his profound 
scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore at- 



An Autobio^aphy. jjq 

tended the most of his lectures. It is true, the philoso- 
phy of Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me 
much satisfaction, and just as little did I receive from 
his lectures on Segner's Mathematical Compendium. 
But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the 

English language. The Rector H , a cheerful old 

man, though somewhat pedantic, was not altogether 
pleased with me, because I would not perform his Latin 
exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The Pro- 
fessor of History began his lectures ab ovo with Adam, 
and at the end of the year with a great deal of efTort 
reached as far down as the building of the Tower of Ba- 
bel. The teacher of French used for translation Fenelon's 
Siir Vexistence de Dieu^ — a work for which I conceived 
the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing 
to declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its 
defence. 

During the whole period of my residence in the gym- 
nasium the professors were unable to form any correct 
idea of me, because they never had an opportunity of 
forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year 
I thought I had attained my object, and laid a good 
foundation in languages. I had also become tired of 
this inactive life, and therefore resolved to quit the gym- 
nasium. But Director Dusch ; who began by and by to 
become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least 
another year, and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented 

It was about this time that the following incident in 



2 6o Solomon Mawwfi : 

my life took place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in 
search of me, and he heard of my residence in Hamburg. 
Accordingly he came and called on me at the gymnasium. 
He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that 
I should either return home without delay, or send 
through him a bill of divorce. At that time I was un- 
able to do either the one or the other. I was not 
inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause ; 
and to return at once to Poland, where I had not yet the 
slightest prospect of getting on in the world or of leading 
a rational life, was to me impossible. I represented all 
this to the gentleman who had undertaken the com- 
mission, and added that it was my intention to leave the 
gymnasium soon and go to Berlin, that my Berlin friends 
would, as I hoped, give me both their advice and assist- 
ance in carrying out this intention. He would not be 
satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere 
evasion. When he thus found that he could do nothing 
with me, he went to the chief rabbi, and entered a 
complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly 
sent to summon me before the tribunal of the chief 
rabbi ; but I took my stand, that at present I was not 
under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the gymnasium had 
a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require 
to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort 
through the Government to make me submit to his 
wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When he saw 
that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he 



A 71 Autobiography. 261 

sent me an invitation a second time on the pretext that 
he wished merely to speak with mc. To this I willingly 
consented, and went to him at once. 

He received me with much respect ; and wiicn 1 m.nic 
known to him my birthplace and family in Poland, he 
began to lament and wring his hands. " Alas! " said he, 
" you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua ? I know 
your father well ; he is a pious and learned man. You 
also are not unknown to me ; I have examined you as a 
boy several times, and formed high expectations of you. 
Oh ! is it possible that you have altered so?" (Here he 
pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I 
also had the honour of knowing him, and that I still 
remembered his examinations well. My conduct hither- 
to, I told him, was as little opposed to religion properly 
understood, as it was to reason. " But," he interrupted 
" you do not wear a beard, you do not go to the syna- 
gogue : is that not contrary to religion ? " " No ! " I 
replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, 
under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this 
was allowed. On this point we entered into a lengthy 
dispute, in which each maintained his right. As he 
could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he 
adopted the style of mere sermonising ; but when this 
also was of no avail, he began to cry aloud, " Shophar ! 
Shophar!'' This is the name of the horn which is 
blown on New- Year's day as a summons to repentance, 
and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid 



262 Solomon Maimon: 

While the chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to 
a Shophar that lay before him on the table, and asked 
me, "Do you know what that is?" I replied quite 
boldly, " Oh yes ! it is a ram's horn." At these words 
the chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to 
lament over my lost soul. I left him to lament as long 
as he liked, and bade him goodbye. 

At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that 
it would be an advantage in view of my future success, 
as well as fair to the gymnasium, that I should make my- 
self more intimately acquainted with the professors. 
Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to 
him that I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I 
wished a certificate from him, it would be well for him 
to examine me on the progress I had made, so that his 
certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance 
with the truth. To this end he made me translate some 
passages from Latin and English works in prose as well 
as in verse, and was very well pleased with the translation. 
Afterwards he entered into conversation with me on some 
subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in 
these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. 
At last he asked me, " But how is it with your mathe- 
matics ? " I begged him to examine me in this also. 
*' In our mathematical lessons," he began, " we had 
advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathema- 
tical bodies. Will you work out yourself a proposition 
not yet taken up in the lessons, for example, that about 



An Autobiography, 263 

the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone to 
one another? You may take some days to do ii. I 
replied that this was unnecessary, and offered to perform 
the task on the spot. I then demonstrated, not only the 
proposition prescribed, but several other propositions out 
of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much 
surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, 
and represented to them that the extraordinary progress 
I had made should make them ashamed of themselves. 
The most of them did not know what to say to this; but 
some replied, " Do not suppose, Herr Director, that 
Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He 
has seldom attended the mathematical lessons, and even 
when he was there he paid no attention to them." They 
were going to say more, but the Director commanded 
silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from 
which I cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They 
became to me afterwards a constant spur to higher at- 
tainments, and I hope it will not be considered vainglory 
in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man. 

"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is 
beautiful, good and useful in general, but in particular 
those sciences which require severe exertion of the men- 
tal powers, abstract and profound thought, is, 1 might al- 
most say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, 
which demand in the highest degree one's own mental 
efforts, appear to him the most agreeable ; and intellec- 
tual occupations seem to be his chief, if not his sole, en- 



264 Solo?7ion Maimon : 

joyment. His favourite studies hitherto have been phi- 
losophy and mathematics, in which his progress has ex- 
cited my astonishment, (S:c." 

I now bade good-bye to the teachers and officers of 
the gymnasium, who unanimously paid me the compli- 
ment, that I had done honour to their institution. I 
then set out once more for Berlin. 



An Autobiography. 265 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Third Journey to Berlin — Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship — 
Journey to Breslau — Divorce. 

On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as 
well as some other old friends, and begged them, as I 
had now acquired some knowledge of languages, to em- 
ploy me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They 
hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the 
Polish Jews still living in darkness, I should prepare in 
Hebrew, as the only language intelligible to them, some 
scientific works, which these philanthropists were to print 
at their own expense, and distribute among the people. 
His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the 
question arose, with what sort of works a beginning 
should be made. On this point my excellent friends 
were divided in their opinions. One of them thought 
that the history of the Jewish nation would be most ser- 
viceable for this purpose, inasmuch as the people would 
discover in it the origin of their religious doctrines and 
of the subsequent corruption which these had undergone, 
while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, 
that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subse- 
quent persecution and oppression which they had suf- 



2 66 Solo ?f ion Mai??ion : 

fered, had arisen from their own ignorance and opposi- 
tion to all rational arrangements. Accordingly this 
gentleman recommended that I should translate from 
French Basnage's History of the Jeivs ; he gave me the 
work for this purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy 
of my translation. The specimen gave satisfaction to 
them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to take 
the work in hand ; but one of our friends thought that 
we ought to begin with something on natural religion and 
rational morals, inasmuch as this is the object of all en- 
lightenment. Accordingly he recommended that for 
this purpose I should translate the Natural Religmi of 
Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because 
he believed that whatever was undertaken in this line, 
though it would do no harm, would also be of little use. 
I myself undertook these works, not from any conviction 
of my own, but at the request of my friends. 

I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despot- 
ism, which by the power of superstition has established 
its throne for many centuries in Poland, and which for 
its own security seeks in every possible way to prevent 
the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the 
Jewish theocracy is connected with the national existence, 
so that the abolition of the former must inevitably bring 
with it the annihilation of the latter. I saw therefore 
clearly that my labours in this direction would be fruit- 
less ; but I undertook this commission, because, as al- 
ready stated, my friends would have it so, and because I 



An Autobiography. 267 

could think of no other means of subsistence. Accord- 
ingly without fixing anything definite about the plan of 
my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, 
where I could carry on my work at leisure. 

I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days 
my friends in Berlin would resolve upon something defi- 
nite about my work : but in this I was deceived ; for, as 
soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further was 
thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight ; but 
when during that period I received no communication, 
I wrote to Berlin in the following terms: — "If my 
friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might leave the 
settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I 
believe that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must be- 
gin neither with history nor with natural theology and 
morals. One of my reasons for thinking so is, that these 
subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to 
instil any regard for science in general among the more 
learned Jews, who are accustomed to respect only those 
studies which involve a strain upon the highest intellec- 
tual powers. But a second reason is, that, as those sub- 
jects would frequently come into collision with religious 
prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, 
sooth to say, there is no proper history of the Jewish 
nation : for they have scarcely ever stood in political re- 
lation with other civilised nations ; and, with the excep- 
tion of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few frag- 
ments on the persecutions of the Jews in the middle 



268 Soloffion Mai?7ion: 

ages, nothing is to be found recorded on the subject. I 
beHeve, therefore, that it would be best to make a begin- 
ning with some science which, besides being most favour- 
able for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, 
and stands in no connection with any religious opinions. 
Of this sort are the mathematical sciences ; and therefore 
with this object in view I am willing to write a mathema- 
tical text-book in Hebrew." 

To this I received the answer, that I might follow my 
plan. Accordingly I applied myself with all diligence to 
the preparation of this text-book, using the Latin work 
on mathematics by Wolff as its basis ; and in two months 
it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an 
account of my work, but received immediately from one 
of the gentlemen interested the disappointing information, 
that, as the work was very voluminous, and as it would 
entail heavy expenditure especially on account of the 
copper-plates required, he could not undertake the publi- 
cation at his own expense, and I might therefore do with 
my manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this 
to Mendelssohn ; and he thought, that certainly it was 
unreasonable to let my work go without remuneration, 
but that I could not require my friends to undertake the 
publication of a work which could not calculate on any 
good result in consequence of that aversion to all science, 
which I myself knew to be prevalent among the Jewish 
nation. His advice therefore was, that I should get the 
book printed by subscription ; and of course I was 



An Autobiography. 269 

obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and 
the other enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I 
received for my work merely my manuscript and the list 
of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, was thought 
of no more. 

On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. 
Being a man with little knowledge of the world, who 
supposed that human actions must always be determined 
by the laws of justice, I pressed for the fulfilment of the 
bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, 
though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project 
must of necessity collapse, because they had no assurance 
of a market for such voluminous and expensive works. 
From the religious, moral and political condition of the 
Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the few 
enlightened men among them would certainly give them- 
selves no trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew 
language, which is very ill-adapted for the exposition of 
such subjects ; they will prefer to seek science in its 
original sources. The unenlightened, on the other hand, 
— and these form the majority, — are so swayed by 
rabbinical prejudices, that they regard the study of the 
sciences, even in Hebrew, as forbidden fruit, and per- 
sistently occupy themselves only with the Talmud and 
the enormous number of its commentaries. 

All this I understood very well, and therefore I never 
thought of demanding that the work I had prcpred 
should be printed ; I asked merely remuneration for the 



270 



Solomon Maifuon 



labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute Mendelssohn 
remained neutral, because he thought that both parties 
had right on their side. He promised to use his influence 
with my friends, to induce them to provide for my sub- 
sistence in some other way. But when even this was 
not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit 
Berhn once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me 
some letters of introduction, but they were of litde 
service ; for before I reached Breslau myself, letters in 
the spirit of those which Uriah carried had preceded me, 
and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom 
my letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural 
result, therefore, I was coldly received ; and as I knew 
nothing of the later letters, I found it impossible to ex- 
plain my reception, and had made up my mind to quit 
Breslau. 

By chance, however, I became acquainted with the 
celebrated Jewish poet, the late Ephraim Kuh. This 
learned and high-minded man took so much interest in 
me, ihat, neglecting all his former occupations and enjoy- 
ments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To 
the wealthy Jews he spoke of me with the greatest en- 
thusiasm, and praised me as a very good fellow. But 
when he found that all his complimentary remarks failed 
to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took 
some trouble to find out the cause of this, and at last 
discovered that the reason lay in those friendly letters 
from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that I was seeking 



yin Autobiography. j^i 

to spread pernicious opinions. Kphraim Kuh, a<t a 
thinking man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but 
with all the efforts he made, he could not drive it oul of 
the heads of these people. I confessed to him that, 
during my first sojourn in Berlin as a younj,' man without 
experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irre- 
sistible impulse to communicate to others whatever truth 
I knew ; but I assured him that, having for some years 
become wise by experience, I went to work with great 
caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly 
without foundation. 

Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to 
form the acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose 
recommendation I thought I might find a hearing among 
the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not but fear, 
however, that my defective language might form an 
obstacle to the expression of my thoughts ; so I prepared 
a written essay, in which I delivered my ideas on the 
most important questions of philosophy in the form of 
aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated 
Professor Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, 
and submitted my aphorisms to him for examination. 
He discussed them with me in a very friendly manner, 
gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also 
orally in very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, 
Lipmann Meier. This gentleman settled a monthly 
allowance on me for my support, and also spoke to some 
Other Jews on the subject. 



272 Solofnon Maimon : 

My situation now improved every day. Many young 
men of the Jewish nation sought my society. Among 
others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took so much 
pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to 
enjoy my instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly 
begged his father to allow ; and the latter, being a well- 
to-do enlightened man of great good sense, who wished 
to give his children the best German education, and 
spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his con- 
sent. He sent for me, and made the proposal* that I 
should live at his house, and for a moderate honorarium 
should give his second son lessons for two hours a day 
in physics and belles lettres, and also a lesson in arithmetic 
of an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This 
proposal I accepted with great willingness ; and, not long 
after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I would not also consent 
to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary mathematics 
to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in 
these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But 
I thought it would be unfair to supplant this poor man, 
who had a family to support, and who was giving satis- 
faction at any rate ; and therefore I declined this request. 
Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I 
entered upon mine. 

In this house I was able to carry on but little study 
for myself. In the first place, there was a want of books; 
and, in the second place, I lived in a room with the 
children, where they were occupied with other masters 



An Autobiography. 273 

every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these 
young people did not suit my character which had already 
become somewhat stern ; and therefore I had often occa- 
sion to get angry at petty outbursts of unruliness. Con- 
sequently, as I was obliged to pass most of my time in 
idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann 
Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheer- 
ful disposition. With him and some other jolly com- 
panions I spent my evenings in talk and jest and play of 
every sort. During the day I strolled around among the 
coffee-houses. 

In other families also I soon became acquainted, par- 
ticularly in those of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr 
Bortenstein, both of whom showed me much kindness. 
All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, 
for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But 
when I saw from my circumstances, that it would be 
difficult for me to find support in any other way, I 
allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve intro- 
duced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his 
medical lectures for some time ; but after all I could not 
overcome my dislike to the art, and accordingly gave up 
the lectures again. By and by I became acquainted with 
other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr 
Lieberkiihn, who was so justly esteemed on account of 
his abilities, as well as for his warm interest in the welfare 
of mankind. I also made the acquaintance of some 
teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at Brcslau. 



2 74 Solomon Maimon : 

But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. 
I translated into Hebrew Mendelssohn's Morgenstmiden. 
Of this translation I sent some sheets as a specimen to 
Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin ; but I received no 
answer because this excellent man, owing to his business 
being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to 
subjects that are not of immediate interest to him, and 
therefore such affairs as the answering of my letter are 
easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a treatise on 
Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles ; 
and this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still 
preserve in manuscript. 

At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious 
situation. The children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of 
the occupations to which they were destined in life, en- 
tered into commercial situations, and therefore required 
teachers no longer. Other means of support also gra- 
dually failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence 
in some other way, I devoted myself to giving lessons ; 
I taught Euler's Algebra to a young man, gave two chil- 
dren instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, 
&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself 
in a sorrowful plight. 

Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Po- 
land. A woman of rude education and manners, but of 
great good sense and the courage of an Amazon, she de- 
manded that I should at once return home with her, not 
seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had 



A^i Autohio^raphv. 275 

now lived some years in Germany, had happily cmanri 
pated myself from the fetters of superstition and religious 
prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of life in 
which I had been brought up, and extended my know- 
ledge in many directions. I could not therefore return 
to my former barbarous and miserable condition, deprive 
myself of all the advantages I had gained, and cxjK)se 
myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from 
the ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. 
I represented to her, that this could not be done at once, 
that I should require first of all to make my situation 
known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, and so- 
licit from them the assistance of two or three hundred 
thalers, so that I might be able to live in Poland inde- 
pendent of my religious associates. But she would 
listen to nothing of all this, and declared her resolution 
to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her immedi- 
ately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less 
of two evils, and I consented to the divorce. 

Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the 
lodging and board of these guests, and to introduce them 
to my friends in Breslau. Both of these duties I per- 
formed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the 
difference between the manner of life one leads here and 
that in Poland, while I sought to convince him by so-eral 
passages in the Moreh Nebhochim, that enlightenment of 
the understanding and refinement of manners are rather 
favourable than othenvise to religion. I went further : I 



276 Solomon Maimon : 

sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with 
me ; I assured him, that, with my direction and the 
support of my friends, he would find opportunities of 
developing the good abilities with which Nature had en- 
dowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable 
employment. These representations made some im- 
pression upon him : but my wife went with my son to 
consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she thought 
she could thoroughly confide ; and they recommended 
her to press at once for a divorce, and on no account to 
let my son be induced to remain with me. This resolu- 
tion, however, she was not to disclose till she had 
received from me a sufficient sum of money for house- 
hold purposes. She might then separate from me for 
ever, and start for home with her booty. 

This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by 
I had succeeded in collecting some score of ducats from 
my friends. I gave them to my wife, and explained to 
her that, to complete the required sum, it would be 
necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to 
raise difficulties, and declared at once pointblank, that 
for us a divorce was best, as neither could I live happily 
with her in Poland, nor she with me in Germany. In 
my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me 
sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained 
affection, and I could not let the affair be conducted in 
any spirit of levity. I told her therefore that I should 
consent to a divorce only if it were enjoined by the courts. 



A /I Autobiography. 277 

This was done. I was summoned before the court. 
My wife stated the grounds on which she claimed a 
divorce. The president of the court then said, " Under 
these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a 
divorce." " Mr. President," I repHed, " we came here, 
not to ask advice, but to receive a judicial sentence." 
Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from his seat (that what 
he said might not have the force of a judicial decision, 
approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed 
to the following passage : — " A vagabond, who abandons 
his wife for years, and does not write to her or send her 
money, shall, when he is found, be obliged to grant a 
divorce." " It is not my part," I replied, " to institute a 
comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls 
to you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and 
pronounce your judicial sentence on the case." 

The president became pale and red by turns, while the 
rest of the judges looked at one another. At last the 
presiding judge became furious, began to call me names, 
pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in 
the name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, 
and went away. Thus ended this strange suit, and 
things remained as they were before. 

My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by 
means of force, and therefore she took to entreaty. I 
also yielded at last, but only on the condition, that at the 
judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself such 
a master of cursing, should nOt preside in the court. 



278 Solomon Mawion : 

After the divorce my wife returned to Poland with my 
son. I remained some time still in Breslau ; but as my 
circumstances became worse and worse, I resolved to 
return to Berlin.* 



* "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply 
affected in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to 
separate. Pie was really veiy much devoted to her, and her fate 
went home to his very heart. It was easy when the subject came 
up in conversation, to read in his face the deep sorrow which he 
felt ; his liveliness then sensibly faded away, he became by and by 
perfectly silent, was usually incapable of further entertainment, and 
went earlier than usual home." Alaimoniana, p. 177. He seems, 
however, at a later period, to have at least spoken to his friends 
about marrying a second time ; but the project was never carried 
out. Ibid., p. 248. — Trans. 



An Autobiography. 279 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



Fourth Journey to Berlin— Unfortunate Circumstances— Help — 
Study of Kant's Writings — Characteristic of my own Works, 



When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in 
life,* and my former friends were determined to know 
nothing more of me. I did not know therefore what to 
do. In the greatest distress I received a visit from Hcrr 
Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfor- 
tunate circumstances, and had collected a small sum of 
about thirty thalers, which he gave to me. Besides, he 
introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an enlightened and 
high-minded man, who received me in a ver)' friendly 
manner, and made some provision for my support. A 
certain professor, indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with 
this worthy man by denouncing me as an atheist ; but in 
spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I was able 
to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman. 

I had now resolved to study Kant's Kritik of Pun 
Reaso?i, of which I had often heard but which I had 
never seen yet.f The method, in which I studied this 



* He died 4th Jan., 1786. — Trans. 

t Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared in 
1781. — 7>a«j-. 



2 8o Solomon Maimon : 

work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I obtained 
a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured after- 
wards to make distinct by my own reflection, and thus 
to penetrate into the author's meaning. Such is properly 
the process which is called thinking oneself into a system. 
But as I had already mastered in this way the systems of 
Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think 
of a coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it 
gradually in writing in the form of explanatory observa- 
tions on the Kritik of Pure Reason, just as this system 
unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the origin of my 
Transcendental Philosophy. Consequently this book must 
be difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the 
inflexible character of his thinking, has made himself at 
home merely in one of these systems without regard to 
any other. Here the important problem. Quid juris 1 
with the solution of which the Kritik is occupied, is 
wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it 
is taken by Kant ; and by this means there is plenty of 
scope left for Hume's scepticism in its full force. But 
on the other side the complete solution of this problem 
leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian dogmatism. 

When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus 
Herz.* He acknowledged that he was reckoned among 
the most eminent disciples of Kant, and that he had 

* The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that 
which I have inserted. See Fischer's Geschichte der neueren Phi- 
losophie, Vol. v., p. 131. — Trans. 



An Autobiography. 981 

given the most assiduous application while attending 
Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed \yc seen from 
his writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass 
a judgment on the Kritik itself or on any other work re- 
lating to it. He advised me, however, to send my man- 
uscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it to his 
judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a 
letter to the great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to 
Kant, sending him my work, and enclosing the letter 
from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an 
answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, 
among other things, Kant said : — 

" But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, 
when you sent me a big packet containing the most 
subtle researches, not only to read through, but to think 
out thoroughly, while I am still, in my sixty-sixth year, 
burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of 
my plan ! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part 
of the Kritik, — that, namely, on the Faculty of Judg- 
ment, — which is soon to appear ; part is to work out my 
system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as well as the Meta- 
physic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of 
the Kritik. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with 
a multitude of letters requiring special explanations on 
particular points ; and, in addition to all this, my health 
is frail. I had already made up my mind to send back 
the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on ail 
these grounds ; but a glance at it soon enabled me to 



282 Solomon Mai?non : 

recognise its merits, and to show, not only that none of 
my opponents had understood me and the main problem 
so well, but that very few could claim so much penetra- 
tion as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. 
This induced me . . ," and so on. 

In another passage of the letter Kant says : — " Herr 
Maimon's work contains moreover so many acute obser- 
vations, that he cannot give it to the public without its 
producing an impression strongly in his favour." In a 
letter to myself he said : — " Your esteemed request I 
have endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible 
for me ; and if I have not gone the length of passing a 
judgment on the whole of your treatise, you will gather 
the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it 
arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain 
for no earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest 
mankind, and least of all for such an effort as yours, 
which, in point of fact, betrays no common talent for the 
profounder sciences." 

It may easily be imagined how important and agree- 
able to me the approbation of this great thinker must 
have been, and especially his testimony that I had under- 
stood him well. For there are some arrogant Kantians, 
who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the 
Critical Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objec- 
tion, even though intended, not exactly as a refutation, 
but as a fuller elaboration of this philosophy, by the 
mere assertion without proof, that the author has failed 



An Autobiography. 183 

to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no 
longer in a position to bring this charge against my book, 
inasmuch as, by the testimony of the founder himself of 
the Critical Philosophy, I have a better right than they 
to make use of this argument. 

At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman 
who was a leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters 
arrived, I went to Berlin, and devoted my time to the 
publication of my Transandental Philosophy. As a 
native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and 
carried a copy to the Polish Resident ; but it was never 
sent, and I was put off from time to time with various 
excuses. Sapietiti sat ! 

A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, 
to the editor of the Allgemeine Littcraturzeitung. After 
waiting a good while without any notice appearing, I 
wrote to the editor, and received the following answer : 
—"You know yourself how small is the number of those 
who are competent to understand and judge philosophical 
works. Three of the best speculative thinkers have 
declined to undertake the review of your book, because 
they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your re- 
searches. An application has been made to a fourth, 
from whom a favourable reply was expected ; but a review 
from him has not yet been received." 

I also began to work at this time for the Journal fiir 
Aufkldrung My first article was on Truth, and was in 



284 Solomon Maim on : 

the form of a letter to a friend* in Berlin. The article 
was occasioned by a letter which I had received from this 
friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he wrote 
to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer 
a marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to 
take advantage of the opportunity which I was enjoying 
to learn tanning. I replied, that philosophy is not a 
coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange ; and 
this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. 
Another article in the same periodical was on Tropes, in 
which I show that these imply the transference of a word 
not from one object to another that is analogous, but 
from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an article 
on Bacon and Ka?it, in which I institute a comparison 
between these two reformers of philosophy. The Soul of 
the World was the subject of another discussion in this 
journal, in which I endeavoured to make out, that the 
doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated 
beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite 
doctrine, but that the arguments for it outweigh those on 
the other side. My last article in the journal referred to 
the plan of my Transcendental Philosophy; and I explain 
in it that, while I hold the Kantian philosophy to be ir- 
refutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the other 
hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the 
side of the Scepticism of Hume. 

* Samuel Levi, according to Maimoniana, p. 78. — Trans. 



//// Autobiography. age 

A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany 
had, during Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a 
society under the designation, Society for Racarch into 
the Hebreiv Language. They observed with truth, that 
the evil condition of our people, morally as well as 
politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in 
their want of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, 
and in the arbitrary exposition to which the rabbis are 
led by their ignorance of the Hebrew language. Ac- 
cordingly the object of their society was to remove these 
deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, 
and by that means to introduce a rational exegesis. F*or 
this purpose they resolved to publish a monthly periodical 
in Hebrew under the title of F^Ck^Dn, The Collector^ which 
was to give expositions of difficult passages in Scripture, 
Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful 
works, etc. 

The intention of all this was certainly good ; but that 
the end would scarcely be reached by any such means, I 
saw from the very beginning. I was too familiar with 
the principles of the rabbis and their style of thought to 
believe that such means would bring about any change. 
The Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental 
modifications, a perpetual aristocracy under the appear- 
ance of a theocracy. The learned men, who form the 
nobility in the nation, have been able, for many centuries, 
to maintain their position as the legislative body with so 
much authority among the common people, that they can 



286 Solomon Maimon : 

do with them whatever they please. This high authority 
is a natural tribute which weakness owes to strength. 
For since the nation is divided into such unequal classes 
as the common people and the learned, and since the 
former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of 
the nation, are profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful 
arts and sciences, but even of the laws of their religion, 
on which their eternal welfare is supposed to depend, it 
follows that the exposition of Scripture, the deduction of 
religious laws from it, and the application of these to 
particular cases, must be surrendered w^holly to the 
learned class which the other undertakes the cost of 
maintaining. The learned class seek to make up for 
their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by 
their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an 
idea of the degree in which these talents are displayed, 
it is necessary to read the Talmud along with the com- 
mentary called Tosaphoth^ that is, the additions to the 
first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac* 

The productions of the mind are valued by them, not 
in proportion to their utility, but in proportion to the 
talent which they imply. A man who understands 
Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who 
even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish Corpus 
Juris^ — and that is no trifle, — is by them but slightly 



See above, p. 41 — Trans, 



A /I Autobiography. jgy 

esteemed. The greatest praise that they give to such a 
man is Chamor Nose Sepharim, that is, An ass loaded 
with books. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, 
to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw 
fine distinctions, and to detect hidden contradictions, he 
is almost idolised. And to tell the truth, this judgment 
is well founded, so far as it concerns the treatment of 
subjects that have no ulterior end in view. 

It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this 
sort will scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which 
aims merely at the cultivation of taste, the study of 
language, or any similar object, which to them appears 
mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated men, 
scattered here and there, — the steersmen of this ship 
which is driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened 
minds, it does not matter how much taste or knowledge 
they possess, are treated by them as imbeciles. And 
why ? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud 
to that extent, and in the manner, which they require. 
Mendelssohn was in some measure esteemed by them on 
this account, because in point of fact he was a good 
Talmudist. 

I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly 
periodical ; I even contributed to it at times Hebrew 
articles. Among these I will mention merely one, — an 
exposition of an obscure passage in the commeniar)- of 
Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the 
Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards uans- 



2 88 Solofnon Mai??ion : 

lated into German, and inserted in the Berlinische Monats- 
schrift. 

Some time after this I received from this society, which 
now calls itself the Society for the Pro?fiotion of all that is 
Noble and Good, a commission to write a Hebrew 
commentary on the celebrated work of Maimonides, 
Moreh Nebhochim. This commission I undertook with 
pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, 
only a part of the commentary has as yet appeared. The 
preface to the work may be considered as a brief history 
of philosophy. 

I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in 
succession, Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, 
and finally Sceptic ; and I was always devoted to that 
system, which for the time I regarded as alone true. At 
last I observed that all these systems contain something 
true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as 
the difference of philosophical systems depends on the 
ideas which lie at their foundation in regard to the objects 
of nature, their properties and modifications, which 
cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined in the 
same way by all men, and presented a priori, I determined 
to publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage 
of others, a philosophical dictionary, in which all philo- 
sophical ideas should be defined in a somewhat free 
method, that is, without attachment to any particular 
system, but either by an explanation common to all, or 
by several explanations from the point of view of each. 



An Autobiography. 289 

Of this work also only the first part has as yet ap- 
peared. 

In the popular German monthly already mentioned, 
the Berlinische Monatsschrift^ various articles of mine 
were inserted, on Deceit, on the Power of Foreseeing, on 
Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical Psycho- 
logy also I contributed various articles, and at last 
became associated wuth Herr Hofrath Moritz in the 
editorship of the perodical* 

So much with regard to the events which have 
occurred in my life, and the communication of which, I 
thought, might be not without use. I have not yet 
reached the haven of rest ; but — 

" Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur." 



* The last few pages have been condensed from the original ; in 
which the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer 
of any special interest, about the articles he contributed to periodi- 
cals. — Trans, 



290 Solomon Mainion : 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 

The closing words of the Autobiography themselves 
awaken the desire to know the sequel of the author's 
life, and it seems therefore appropriate to finish the 
narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly 
from the little volume of Maimoniana^ to which reference 
has been made in the preface. 

It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's 
life to the very end continued to retain the stamp it bore 
throughout the whole period described in the preceding 
chapters. That stamp had apparently been impressed 
on it even before he left Poland; and the Western 
influences, under which he came in Germany, never 
altered essentially the character he brought with him 
from home. 

Even in its external features his life enjoyed no 
permanent improvement. Fate had indeed been some- 
what liard upon a man of so much genuine culture and 
sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the 
largest cup of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to 
circumstances : it was partly his own nature or habits 
that kept him a pauper. This is all the more remarkable, 
that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious 



An Autobiography. 291 

instruction which attaches more importance than the 
Tahiiud to industrial pursuits.* Saturated as his mind 
was with Talmudic lore, and disciplined as his early 
years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon could 
not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life 
derives from financial independence on others ; and it 
might therefore have been expected of him that, like 
many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and Mendelssohn 
too, he would have devoted himself to some remunera- 
tive occupation, however humble. This would not have 



* By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of 
the Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an 
interesting note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages 
enjoining industry are the following : — " Rather skin a carcase for 
pay in the public streets, than be idly dependent on charity," 
"Rather perform the meanest labour than beg." As a further 
evidence of the estimation in which labour was held by the sages of 
the Talmud, it may be mentioned that Hillel, before being 
admitted to the Great College, earned his livelihood as a wood- 
cutter ; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker ; Rabbi Nehcmiah 
Halsador, a potter ; Rabbi Judah, a tailor ; Rabbi Joshua Hasandler, 
a shoemaker; and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all 
things," says Mr. Deutsch, "the most hated were idleness and 
asceticism ; piety and learning themselves only received their 
proper estimation when joined to healthy, bodily work. 'It is 
well to add a trade to your studies ; you will then be free from sin,' 
' The tradesman at his work need not rise before the greatest 
doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives his livelihood from work than 
he who fears God ' — are some of the most common dicta of the 
period." ^Literary Remaifis, p. 25, where there are some striking 
stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch elsewhere 
quotes, " Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a wcck-day 
than be dependent on others," (Ibid., p. yi).— Trans. 



2 2 Solotfwn Maiinon : 

been impossible even in Poland, where the Jews were 
subject to no disability excluding them from the 
common industries of the country ; and from the Auto- 
biography it appears that, even at an early period of his 
life, he was more than half aware that his poverty was 
due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a higher 
culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.* In 
Germany, with its more advanced civiUsation, it would 
have been much less difficult for him to make a tolerable 
living at some employment. The Autobiography shows 
that he was very generously received by a large circle of 
influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to 
secure for him a position of independence, and that they 
abandoned their effort only when they found it in vain. 
From the Maimotiiaiia also it appears that some of the 
most eminent men of his time continued to tender their 
friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze 
(Aenesidemus), and even Goethe, made advances 
towards Maimon in a way that was not only very flatter- 
ing, but might have been very helpful, if he had so 
chosen, t But he never got rid of the habit, which he 
had acquired in Poland, of depending on others ; and 
the low standard of comfort, to which he had accustomed 
himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to seek an 
escape from his pauperised condition. 



* See above, pp. 140-1. 

\ Alai/noniana, pp. 196-200. 



Am Autobiography. 393 

His condition, therefore, never improved, lie mn- 
tinued during his later years to work at various literary 
employments ; but the remuneration he obtained for 
these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works 
appealed to a very limited public. He hadconscfiucnlly 
often to go a-begging for a publisher, and to content 
himself with what slight honorarium the reluctant 
publishers chose to give.* The literary hack-work, of 
which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no 
better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly 
paid in Berlin at the time as in the Grub Street of last 
century. He was therefore at times reduced to utter 
beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears from 
the Autobiography, had lost patience with him ; and 
some, who had helped him before, when he was forced 
by sheer starvation to apply to them afterwards, treated 
him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a copper 
in charity {Zehrpfennig)^ and at times with unnecessarily 
cold, even insulting language.! If we add to this the 
fact, that his irregular habits often made him the victim 
of unscrupulous men,:J: it will not seem surprising that he 
sometimes fell into a bitter tone and harsh judgments 
about his friends, § or that he was apt occasionally to 
burst out into pretty strong language of general mis- 
anthropy. II 



* Ibid. -p. ?>o. t/^/t/. pp. 80, 83-4. ://^/./., p. 95. tioic. 

%Ibtd., pp. 82-3. \JbU., pp. 154, 157. 



2 94 Solomon Maimon : 

Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic 
destitution, to which he seemed doomed, if he had 
cultivated in any degree the virtue of thrift. But 
thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an 
hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations 
before him; and though he gives vivid pictures of its 
pitiable results in the households of his grandfather and 
father, he never made any effort to rise above it himself. 
Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his work, 
instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained 
more, he usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, 
often of a useless, sometimes of a reprehensible kind.* 
He points out in his first chapter, that his grandfather 
might have been a rich man if he had kept accounts of 
income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to 
confess that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he 
never seemed to think of the difference between plus 
and 77iinus in money-matters, f With such a character 
one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when 
on a fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, 
too harshly perhaps, with the blunt remark, "People like 
you there is no use in trying to help." % Certainly help 
was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it is difficult 
to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable 
death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous 



* Ibid., pp. 80, 95, 104. + Ibid., p. 84. Xlbid., p. 105. 



An Autobio^aphy, jqc 

home was at last opened to him, where he closed hu d.i)-* 
in comfort and peace. 

A character like that of Maimon implied a general 
irregularity of life,— an absence of that regulation by fixed 
rules of conduct, which is essential to wellbcing. He 
was not indeed unaware of the importance of such 
regularity. " I require of every man of sound mind," he 
said one day, " that he should lay out for himself a plan 
of action." No wonder that this requirement leads his 
friend to remark, that it seemed to him as if Maimon's 
only plan of life had been to live without any plan at all.* 

The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his 
want of method even at his literary work. Nothwiih- 
standing the technical culture he gave himself in early 
life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any 
degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his 
awkwardness in handling his pen, and his inability lo 
fold a letter with tolerable neatness.! In other respects 
also he was careless about those mechanical conveni- 
ences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He 
was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady 
desk, one leg of which was supported by a folio volume. ^ 
He did not even confine himself to any particular place 
for work. Apparently he spent more of his day in public 
taverns than in his private lodging, and he might often 



Ibid., p. 159. \ Ibid., pp. 231-2. X /*'<'•. P- ¥>' 



296 Solomon Maimon: 

be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing 
or revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers 
sometimes were mislaid and lost, and his work had all 
to be done over again. It was said of the Autobio- 
graphy itself that it had been written on an alehouse 
bench."* He could never understand how any man 
could do intellectual work by rule; and therefore, 
though he had to make his living as best he could by 
literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one 
part of the day for work. He commonly worked in the 
morning, at least in his morning, and that, his friend 
acknowledges, was not very early ;f but this itself was 
evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason 
he never adopted the plan, which authors find so service- 
able, of first sketching an outline of a work before it is 
written out in detail. " I have," he said one day, "given 
up, with good result, the habit of making a draught 
beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful 
about your work when you know that you are going to 
write it over again ; you neglect many a thought, do not 
write it down, because you believe that it will occur to 
you again in copying out, which frequently does not 
happen." \ It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the 
contrary notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his 
unmethodical habits. "The fact," says the most 
competent of judges on this subject, "that Maimon is 

* Ibid., p. 140, 'Mbid., p. 96. Xlhid., p. 97. 



An Autobiography, 201 

far from having attained the recognition which his 
importance deserves, may be accounted for by the 
defective condition of his writings. His extraordinary 
acuteness was designed, but was not sufficiently cuhivatcd, 
to give to his investigations the hght and the force of 
methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in 
his Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, with- 
out proper sifting and arrangement of his materials. To 
these defects must be added the faults of his style. It 
is surprising that he learned to write German as he did. 
In his writings there are passages in which the thought 
bursts out with really resplendent power, and actually 
forces the language, even plays with it, in turns of 
expression that take you by surprise. But a German 
author he never became ; and as a philosophical author 
he wanted a certain sense of order that is indispensable 
for exposition. He can sometimes formulate ver)- well, 
but cannot systematise, and hence his most important 
opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position 
rests, are often in the course of his writings found in 
passages the least lucid and the least prominent." * 

It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in 
another form, that he had no mechanical memory, that 
consequently he was apt to forget the names of persons 
and of places, sometimes could not remember the name 
of the street where he lived, or the day or even the 



* Fischer's Geschichte der neuern Philosophie, vol. v., pp. 133-4- 

U 



298 Solomon Maimon : 

month ; and it is not therefore surprising that he often 
injured himself by neglecting all sort of engagements.* 
It may be readily inferred that he was particularly 
negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing 
upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his 
condition and character must have been unusually care- 
less about his personal appearance, follows as a matter 
of course, and therefore we may pass over the references 
of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was 
usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which 
had evidently not been made for himself, and which, we 
may suspect, was intended as a convenient covering for 
the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing the 
weather-stains of many days, and his beard often show- 
ing that for a good while he had forgotten his engage- 
ment with his barber. In the latter years of his life he 
abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of powder in his 
hair, at a time when these changes must have been 
regarded as rather daring innovations on prevalent 
fashion. But in all his surroundings he showed what, 
for a man of his intellectual attainments, seems a most 
astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the 
comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging 
must have raised a shudder in any one sensitive to 
disorder or uncleanliness. He acknowledged that he 
was constantly at war with the housemaid on this subject, 

* Maimoniana^ pp. 190-6. 



An Autobiography. joo 

as he could never bear to have his room swept and 
dusted, and he complained of the perpetual annoyance 
to which he was exposed in Amsterdam from the exces- 
sive scruples of the people in regard to tidiness. • It 
may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was consider- 
ably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. 
His habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it 
was evidently difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable 
even in the comparatively sumptuous home in which he 
closed his days. 

The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the 
fact, that the irregularity, which characterised the life of 
Maimon, sometimes led to a breach of the weightier 
matters of the law. The habit, which he began in Poland, 
of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal 
wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him 
afterwards ; and as his health began to fail, he used to 
treat his various complaints by a liberal allowance of 
various wines and beers which he supposed adapted to 
their cure.f The liberal allowance was very apt, espe- 
cially in the evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; 
and the sleepy inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently 
disturbed by the half-tipsy philosopher, as he wended 
his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable hours, 
discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagree- 



Ibid., pp. 90-1. \ Ibid., pp. 183-8. 



300 Solomon Maimon: 

ably loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the 
expostulations of a night-watchman.* 

The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were 
occasionally shown in violent outbursts of various feelings. 
Too frequently it was an irritable temper that gave way. 
The slightest provocation, even the loss of a game at 
chess, t was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then 
his language was certainly far from being restrained by 
those usages which are found essential to the pleasantness 
of social intercourse. I The uncontrollable violence of 
these outbursts was amusingly exhibited in the fact, that 
sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm 
requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his 
acquired German, and, even though it might be a Gentile 
with whom he quarrelled, he fell back on his Judaeo-Pohsh 
mother tongue, which came to him as if by natural instinct.§ 
It is but fair, however, to add that these outbursts were 
often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether 
unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at 
wrong. II 

For this strangely educated man, who in his outward 
manners seemed to remain a somewhat rude child of 
nature, was after all ready to yield, not only to an unkindly 
irritability, but also to the more genial emotions. It is 



* Ibid.^ pp. 10 1 -4. '\ Ihid.^ p. 217. 

Xlbid., pp. 109-II2, 208, 212-3. 
%Ibid., p. 87. II Ibid., p. 213. 



An Autobiography. ^oi 

pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular 
fondness for animals ; and his pets were allowed in his 
lodging liberties which, however objectionable to a lidy 
house-maid, showed at least the essential gentleness of 
his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the severest 
school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he 
cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever 
ready to help them as he could, sometimes at the cost of 
no small sacrifice to himself.* The finer sensibilities of 
his nature were also easily touched by music. Though 
he had no musical culture, and used to regret that he had 
had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken 
off all connection with the Jews, could move him so 
deeply that he was obliged, even in company, to seek 
relief in tears, f For in the uncontrolled simplicity of his 
nature he allowed his feelings to find their natural vent 
without much restraint from circumstances; and therefore 
he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing 
by a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy. J 
Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his 
character, but rather as an indication of a wholesome 
check on the general irregularity of his life, that, even 
after he had thrown off all the peculiar restraints of his 
national religion, he clung with evident fondness to many 
of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his 



* Ibid., p. 249. ilbid., p. ^. 

Xlbid., p. 230. 



302 Solomon Mai7non: 

earlier years. From Fischer's account of the style of 
Maimon's works we have seen how his intellectual work 
was affected by his Talmudic studies. The criticism is 
evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and 
acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it 
did not affect the truth of his speculations, though he 
evidently felt its disadvantages, and laboured at times to 
acquire a more methodical style.* 

The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were 
most quaintly seen in peculiarities of outward manner. 
Gesticulations customary in the study of the Talmud he 
was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot him- 
self in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a 
company he fell into a brown study, or even in the 
studies of his retirement. Thus in reading Euler's 
mathematical works or any other book which required 
great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic sing- 
song and rhythmical swing of the body.f 

It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained 
rudeness which often characterised his manners, Maimon 
was not without a certain dignified courtesy ; and when 
the occasion demanded it, he could turn a polite phrase 
as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman. J There 
was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which 
must have gone a long way to soften the less amiable 



*/<5iV., pp. 86-7. ■Mbid.,^.%^. 

tSee, for example, Ibid., pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1. 



yi» Autohioi^raphy. 



303 



side of his social character.* Then it is evident that his 
conversation, in his better moods at least, had a chaim 
which made him a welcome guest in any company. 
Thus, amid all that may have been repulsive at times, 
there must have been in Maimon's character a good deal 
to attract the friendly companionship of others. The 
Autobiography itself, as well as Wolffs little book, shows 
that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the 
cultured society of his time. Being naturally shy, indeed, 
he rather shrank from company in which intercourse is 
regulated by a somewhat rigid social code ; and the 
desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him 
into company of a much more objectionable kind. He 
also seems to have entertained a strong dislike to any 
excessively demonstrative affection. lie himself was 
rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness 
towards others, contenting himself generally, on meeting 
them, with a familiar nod. The lifting of the hat 
appeared to him meaningless, and a deliberate embrace 
"in cold blood" was intolerable.! Yet in many 
instances the attachment of his friends was marked with 
an unusual degree of warmth, and brought many an 
hour of sunshine to a life which otherwise would have 
been shadowed with insufferable gloom. 

Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous 
place must be given to the man by whose generous 

* Ibid., p. \IbU., pp. 165-6. 



304 Solomo7i Mainion: 

hospitality he was able to close his chequered life amid 
the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was living 
in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of BerHn, 
he learned from one of his friends that a Silesian noble- 
man, Graf Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of 
his writings, was anxious to make his personal acquain- 
tance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was at last 
induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. 
Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the 
character of his noble friend j and the friendship thus 
begun led before long to his taking up his abode 
permanently with the Graf.* The generous considera- 
tion which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of 
his guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for 
the poor philosopher, who since his childhood had 
seldom enjoyed the comforts of a home. 

But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at 
an early period begun to tell upon his constitution, and 
that this was further shattered by irregular habits in his 
later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in the lungs 
excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, ^^^ ^^ ^^s 
induced to seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise 
scepticism in regard to medicine, partly from his usual 
failure to adhere to any fixed rule in his conduct, the 
services of his physicians commonly ended with the con- 
sultation ; he seldom or never acted on their advice, f 

* Ibid., pp. 201-210. i Ibid., pp. 183-8. 



An Autohiogrnphy. 305 

He lived in indifTerent health for five or six years more. 
When his last illness overlook him, he was living in the 
house of Graf Kalkreuth at Siegersdorf near Freistacll, 
in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at this crisis 
was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly 
periodical of the time, entitled Kronos. It forms the 
close of Wolffs little book ; and as it is the only account, 
it may be of some interest here. The pastor, Hcrr 
Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon 
about the year 1795 ; but their intercourse had become 
much closer about six weeks before Maimon's death, 
when he used to visit the pastor two or three times a 
week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for 
some days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He 
found him in a state of great weakness, unable to leave 
his room, and besought him earnestly, but in vain, to 
take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called 
again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. 
Curious to know whether Maimon in this situation would 
remain true to his principles, he gave the following turn 
to the conversation, which he professes to report word 
for word. 

" I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon,'' 
said the pastor. 

" There will perhaps be some improvement yet," re- 
plied Maimon. 

"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am 

doubtful about your recovery." 

w 



3o6 Solomon Maimon : 

" \Vhat matters it after all ? " said Maimon. " When 
I am dead, I am gone." 

" Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergy- 
man, with deep emotion. " How ? Your mind, which 
amid the most unfavourable circumstances ever soared 
to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and 
fruits — shall it be trodden in the dust along with the 
poor covering in which it has been clothed ? Do you 
not feel at this moment that there is something in you 
which is not body, not matter, not subject to the condi- 
tions of space and time ? " 

" Ah !" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams 
and hopes " 

" Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in ; 
and then, after a short pause, added, " You maintained 
not long ago that here we cannot reach further than to 
mere legality. Let this be admitted ; and now perhaps 
you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in 
which you will rise to the stage of morality, since you 
and all of us have a natural capacity for it. Why ? 
Should you not wish now to come into the society of 
one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn ? " 

The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this 
turn on purpose, in order to touch this side of the philo- 
sopher's heart. After a while the dying man exclaimed, 
" Ay me ! I have been a foolish man, the most foolish 
among the most foolish — and how earnestly I wished it 
otherwise ! " 



An Autobiography. 307 

" This utterance," observed the pastor, '* is also a 
proof that you are not yet in complete accord with your 
unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon by the hand, 
"you will not all die ; your spirit will surely live on." 

" So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can 
go a good way ; but what does that help us ? " was 
Maimon's reply. 

" It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor. 

" I am at peace (Ich bin ruhig)^' said the dying man, 
completely exhausted. 

Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the 
sufferer was evidently unable to continue it. When he 
rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, or at least to 
come back again soon. He came back the following 
morning, but found the patient unconscious. At ten 
o'clock on the same evening — it was the 22 nd of Novem- 
ber, 1800 — this strangely tossed life had reached its 
haven. 

" He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, 
" though I do not venture to say from what source the 
peace was derived. When a few days afterwards I 
passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with 
sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed 
his ashes." It is to be regretted that the generous piety 
of the friendly minister was not universal, and that the 
ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with a 
grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place. 



Notes on some Books of Special Interest 



PUBLISHED BY 



ALEXANDER GARDNER, 

PAISLEY AND LONDON. 



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file Queen. 



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Leader. 



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Captive King (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of lielter-known 
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Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene, 
We want no other sovereign ! We want no other Queen ! 
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Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and thr(^ 
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our readers to these poems because of their intrinsic merits. — 



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Mr. Sharp is seen at his best in his shorter poems. In these, as a rule, healthy 
sentiment is expressed in unpictenlious verse. — Academy. 



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"The anonymous author of the 'Lyrics'— is he not to be met with among the sheriffs?— plays 
his tunes for session and vacation on the ' goose-quill ' of the law,' and he mana^res to produce from 
that ancient instrument a considerable variety of expression. . . . His pronounced national 
tastes are admirably shown in ' Oatmeal,' etc. ; in lyrics like ' Stornoway Bay,' there is the true 
lyrical gush ; while in such poems as ' A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of word- 
painting. . ." — Scotsman. 

" For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have seen." — Scots Law 
RcviiTiv. 

" A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself equally at home in 
the serious as in the comic." — Graphic. 

" They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The author has earned 
a righi to be called theLaureate of the Law, for certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all 
professions with quite a halo of poetical interest." — Nojiconforjnisi. 

" Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of this little volume." 
— Academy. 

"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at the bar." — Glasgow 
Daily Mail. 

'■ Will please not only those ' gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the tin^' volume is dedicated, 
but a far larger circle. It is a delightful book of verses daintily got M'p."— Glasgow Herald. 

" These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done in this particular line 
Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics in common sense and humour."— Scotiis/i News. 

" The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. The more serious and 
imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic fancy. There are many who will procure the 
second edition from a recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them." — Journal of Juris- 
prudence. 

"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in rhythm, and re- 
markable for rhyme." — Evening News. 

" The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the writer to be a true poet." — 
Stirling- A dvertiser. 

" The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of many in these golden days 
of summer. To the second edition the author has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful 
verses which are found so attractive in the first edition." — Weekly Citizen. 

" One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular that have been added to 
the choir of Northern minstrels during the present Q.^n\.uxy ."—Christian Leader. 

" The admirable La7v Lyrics . . . bright with strokes of pawky humour, and abounding in 
verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one which will become a lasting favourite 
with its readers. "--/"At^ Bailie. 

" Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow brighter, while to 
staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less 
form subjects for reflection." — Ayrshire Weekly News. 



" The little volume is interesting from the first page to the lMl."—/iivfm*i$ Cfunrr. 

" Some of the verses exhibit a power of picliiresqiic de*<-ri|>tinn whl^-h it wwi'H Kc <*«W'-tV ta 

match, except out of the masters of sonR. Reveal in attractivf ttylr t' m% 

the poet, and establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted . *- 
ciative Scotch audience."— (^r^^«^c-t Telegraph. 

" Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridt^e, etc' are amoncst the mo«t feiicitona eiampi«a of Scelcll 
poetry we have seen in recent yca.TS." — Brechin Advertiser. 

" Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the viewsi of the author ar« ■■priwud wbll • 
directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which leaves nothing to be dcMrad."— A'#r/4 B*iN»k 

Advertiser. 

" Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen tense of th« httmoaroa*." 

— Stirling Observer. 

" Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial and cajo^sbl* 

volume." — Aberdeen Gazette. 

" He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal I^ord Neave* and Oatnua 
at their best, and in several poems the natural grace and pith of expre*%ion ftii;- .1 '>n«- n^f* of 
Burns than any other writer. This may seem pitching it very high, but in our - ■«« 

will bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the pro'es>ion of it« autl. . •o« 

who can appreciate true humour and good poetry." — The People's Friend. 

" Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery are extremely fi»». dis- 
playing as they do rare observing powers, a rich fancy, and flowing tasteful language." — Duaafrin 

Standard. 

" He is a follower of Robert Bums and finds in the Court, and in the Temple, an inapiration 
which the great Scotch poet found in the fields of Ayrshire."— /'<»// Mall Gatett*. 

"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent degree." — Litrrmry 
Werld. 



THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 

AXD THE SALVATION OF THE FEW. A Criticism 
of Natural Laiu in the Spiritual World. By Rev. A. \ViL.«iON. 
Crown 8vo, cloth, 2S. 6d. Post free. 

" In a former number of this Review we drew attention to two or three of th« 
main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive book. Wc arc glad 
to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a scientihc kno\vIe«lj;e equ.il to Fro- 
fessor Drummond's, and with a logical faculty far superior, subjcried it to ■ far 
more systematic and exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the daxthnc 
pages of Natural Law in the Spiritual World, but not l)linde<i l>y their j»litter. will 
welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of f.n •- 
and those who were fascinated by the Professor's brilliant rhetorir 
have a rather painful awakening. Thfy will see the idol shatters 
to fall down and worship as a condition of attaining to an intcll 
from which they might see all known facts in their harmony and < 
no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systema ; . 
your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the spiritual worl 
the necessity of assuming that man is nothing more than a part of mn' 
until he is "converted," and of believing that the survival of the fittest n 
salvation of the few (according to the analogy of the -scfil> of an •■''chi.l, < . ^ 
one person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the oljject oC 



I*, 
in 



religious fcelinjr, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely tenants, be worth 
arguing for ? It is probable that few readers of this new " analogy" drew such in- 
ferences, but were merely interested in Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific 
gymnastics ; but for the thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is 
well that he has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and 
scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson." — Saturday Revieiv. 

*• It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are continuous 
through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself first called on to meet; 
and he does so by contending that the principle of continuity applies only if the 
spiritual universe be itself material, and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as 
there are in the material universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravita- 
tion, for example, does not extend. . . . Mr. Wilson has written a very able, 
acute, and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect courtesy 
to his opponent ; and we should be glad to think that his work would be widely 
read." — Scotsman. 

". . . The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, respect- 
ful to Professor Drummond. . . . Here, we think, Mr. W^ilson occupies a 
very strong — indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, so much the 
critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he appears to us, in great measure, 
to recognise and accept it. His own words farther on are: 'The identification of 
the natural and spiritual laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding 
together of mind and body, God and Nature.' . . . We are much interested 
in the author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject which 

gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful chapter " — 

Literary World. 

**An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just made 
its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examinaticm of ' Natural Law 
in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of attention and controversy."— 
London Figaro. 

"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the Professor's con- 
clusions. . . . The great question raised by Professor Drummond's work is 
that of the relation of the natural law of the survival of the fittest to the doctrine of 
election. His critic combats this conclusion with much acuteness and ability." — 
Glasgo7u Herald. 



WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 

DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: 

Renii)iisceiices of his Life a?id Work. By Marjory Kennedy. 
And SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative oj 
his Colonial and Indian Tours. By David Kennedy, Juiit. 
Demy 8vo, 480 pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free. 

"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the chief 
musician's son David in different books having reference to the Colonies, to India, 
ind to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and appropriate ]-)reliminary 
;hapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy himself. . . . The memoir 



has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with much taste and iudpmrnf. and 
will be read with interest, not only for the sake of her father's char .r% 

and stories of early life, but as recallinij in various other ways \>k.. ..; uc« 

associated with a family of rare gifts and graces." — Glasgow lieraU. 



LIFE IN SHETLAND. V>y Juiix Russlll. 

Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post free. 

"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information al)out Si ' ad 

its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led to write >st 

things which he knows thoroughly — namely, his own doings and experience-.. . . 
There follows the story of the strange minister at the 'second diet ' of a rrc^bytcry 
meeting who wanted to propose a toast, but was informed by the horrific*! moderator 
that 'God's people in that part of the country were not in the habit of rlrinking 
toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never Inrforc seen 
God's people drink so much toddy." Much, both edifying and entertaining, might 
be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may have been said to gain for it 
the public attention it deserves. " — Scotsvian, 

" We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note down 
what comes under their observation of an interesting nature regarding curious cus- 
toms, habits of life, and folkdore, among the people with whom they come into 
contact. . : . He is never entirely dull, and we prefer such volumes which 
bring us into actual contact with a poor but unsophisticated people to many preten- 
tious stories. We follow the minister as he goes out and in among the people, 
suffering hardship, visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating 
odd anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all 
who are interesved in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure lives and 
labours of an interesting people." — Pen and Pencil. 

" An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is • "to 

us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those Northern islai :m 

good opportunity of observing the place and the people. . . . Go<i<i rid 

brief observations and remarks on the geolog}', natural histor)', and antis ;hc 

islands, and the peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out 
in the narrative. ... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and ver>' relial)Ie 
description of Ultima Tlmle. And as the reader closes the volume he will find that 
he has made acquaintance at once with a singular countr)', and a pleasant gni,?.- to 
its chief points of interest." — Aberdeen Free Press. 

"A bright and entertainining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent 
Shetland and the Shetlanders. ... I know no book on Shetlan<l equal to 
this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy ; the author • Hat 

he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a it 

a dull page in ' Three Years in Shetland,' from the title to the sent- 
in which Mr. Russell expresses the wish that 'all good things i: , 
islanders among whom he spent three delightful years." — Bailte. 

" A very readable book about a very interesting people. ... A u.ir.i>cci, 
of course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell .nrcms to 
have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as he found them. 



8 

wliich he is perhaps all the better able to do for his change to the position of an 
outsider. " — Glasgow Herald. 

*' It contains some of the best clerical stories— though not always of the most 
dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the estimation of rude 
and irreverent laics— that we have come across, and it gives very interesting, and 
for the most part accurate, details of the everyday life of the people, "—^/^w 
Courant and Courier. 



UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH." 

LOCH C RERAN. Notes from the West 

Highhvids. By W. Anderson Smith. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 

Post free. 

" Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's Benderloch will welcome from the same 
pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western Highlands en- 
titled Loch Creran. . . . The influences of free moorland air and buoyant 
water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, and give zest to the 
study of fish and fowl and flower that are liberally displayed. Whether it is the 
flight of a solitary bunting, or the habitat of the pipe-fish [SygnatJms), the progress 
o^Myir in the refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the 
scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and distinctive por- 
tion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation of the rich spoil of the 
dredger, as might be anticipated of so enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and 
many of the most interesting pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and 
Creran and Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by 
the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers and insects 
of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is worth hearing, and he 
says it with admirable clearness and force." — Saturday Review. 

"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. 
Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is surrounded, 
Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and out-of-the-way stores of in- 
formation he has gathered in all branches of natural history. Each month, as it 
passes, has a chapter devoted to all its manifold changes and doings, and we get 
many glimpses of charming excursions, not unmixed with clanger, when overtaken 
by those sudden climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is 
often exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby to 
death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and fresh, and full 
of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious anecdotes and facts relating 
to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. No better or more instructive guide 
to the fauna and flora of the Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson 
Smith's most pleasant book.'"' — Literary IVorld. 

" They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the sea- 
shore, the hill -side, or the trouting stream ; they will find how much a quiet and 
attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the denizens of earth, air, and water. 
The book is provided with a good index, and those who have not leisure or 
patience to read it through at a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. 
Smith's dredge, they hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest." — Scotsjuan, 



"Students of natural history who read Penderloch, by Mr, \V. A. SYr.ith. will 
^[ive a cordial welcome to Loch Cretan, another and even more attr.i 
the same observant author. With the exception, perhaps, of M. 
living naturalist is gifted with a more picturesque manner of dc; 

birds, beasts, and fishes than is Mr. Smith. . . . Then w; 

entertaining instruction is gathered in these excursions ; a roy.il ro.i«l lo n 
history is laid down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, . 
charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows wh.it a 
day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles. . . 
There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. lie teemt 
only to sleep at home, lor, with his waterproof handy, he roams alxjut all d.T. 
the open air, and comes home at night with a well filled note-lMM:)k. . . 
wealth of interesting matter in this delightful volume is, however, t' ■ 
beyond our space, and we think we have collated enough to make all wl, 
country, its sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work itscif."'- 
Diindee Advertiser. 

** To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's Penderl<xh^ no mtro- 
duction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new book, Ijxh 
Creran. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, simj^ly a continuation o( 
the natural history sketches of which Bendcrloch is composed. . . . With 
what a happy combination of vivacity and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. 
Anderson Smith scans the open pages of that great tome of nature. . . , 
Treasure-trove of this kind, along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, 
is freely scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a 
charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes." — Scottish Leader. 

*' There are few books in the language more delightful than White's Stlhom 
and in Mr. W^. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire naturalist has a di- 
tinguished successor. His most recent volume is worthy of the author of Btn- 
derloch, a book which, it may be hoped, is already familiar to our readers. . . 
The variety of his researches on land and water prevent monotony. The author 
has much to tell, and he explains what he has seen and done without waste of 
words." — Illustrated London Neii'S. 

"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 18S1-2, and refer > 

the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other aspect.-. < 
and his book is well worth reading." — Times. 

"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in to -. i. 
they will find a work after their own heart. . . . The charm of the v> '. 
before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker feverishly cngcr to 
piece together into a volume odds and ends of information. There is an air of 
leisureliness about Loch Creran. Month by month are given the 1 
years' close intercourse with loch and sea, field and wood. The wm 
enjoyed by those who share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not lo be ru*hcd l;. 
the heedless." — Graphic. 

" Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to t 
and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one silting. '■ 
to dip into occasionally and to rumina'.e over in pleased contentment. 1 
worth will be best appreciated by those taking a holiday in the countr)-, 
all, at the seaside. And it will serve as a very efficient guide to jHrrsons 
the study of natural history, directing them what and how to ol»scr^-e, M.\ 
capital story he gives illustrating the remarkab'e intelligence of the l^wcr ami. 
Some of these border upon the marvellous. ''—Perthshire Constitutional and fournai. 



10 

*♦ Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch Creran' is 
s-cll maintained throui,'hout, and the book appeals to the general reader, by whom 
t will doubtless be perused with greater pleasure than a more highly scientific 
lisquisition."— /Vz// Mall Gazette. 

" He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to nature— 
vhciher he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the house, as he tells us 
»f winter's storms and fioods, or whether he fills our hearts with a longing for the 
rashness and j^iadness of spring as he notes the signs of its advent on the shores of 
x)ch Creran." — Glasgoia Herald. 



OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: 

Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery Records. Second Series. 
By Andrew Edgar, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. Post free. 

"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother of 
heir craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but certainly these con- 
ain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these Scotch folks ; but there is 
L h(Miieliness and a reverence about them which we greatly value. Our author is 
ividently of the Established Church, and knows most about the old customs of that 
)ody, of which he writes with a twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle 
ilso. The grim want of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same 
hing as the presence of humour : you may laugh till yoti cry, and cry till you 
augh ; between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. 
kVe have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former volume. 
A'hat limes those must have been when guests at a funeral began to meet at ten in 
he morning, though the body might not be moved till three or four ! Five or six 
lours ! How did they spin them out? No marvel that the Kirk-Session had to 
lear charges of drunkenness. Such books as these are the best of history, leading 
IS indeed into byways and lone paths which the general historian never traces." — 

3. H. Spurgeon. 



MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Atttobiography 

of an Old Student. Edited by R. Menzies Fergusson, M.A., 
Author of " Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, cloth, 5s. 
Post free. 

" Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our gratitude by 
jiving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and pleasure. 
5pace and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many other points of interest to 
)e found in this entertaining volume ; but we cannot pass without mentioning the 
vorlhy dame who said, in praise of her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon 
nan— he's a grand roarer.' Nor must we forget the careful landlady who was 
dways anxious to know if her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to 
ISC her own graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.' . . ." — Literary JVorld. 

"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his own 



1 1 

literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no rcnv.n t., )^ ,.k ^ 

of the bequest. The sketches hnvc a pleasant j;race of litcrarv i 

deal of power in description of character-sketching, while ihct , 

subtle under-strain of pawky humour, and he has brou^jht to. 

manently on record a number of traditions of University life in 1 

Andrews that are well worth preservation. . . . Our old stii'' 

of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after 

Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than those he - \ 

Alma Mater ; and his book is likely to take a fiace lK»th o; \, 

enduring regard of many readers who have had similar .J 

similar pleasures. A word of praise is due to the excellence ul iu ty|H/giauhy and 

get-up." — Scottish Lecuier. 

" We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has <lone well in \ 
this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorf)us, and, in manv ---> - 
delineations of University life ; it is sympathetic in its spirit and 
especially when dealing with such subjects as the stage, so frcqu. i.;i> .i; « 

author was a student of the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, an 
his reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always inti i 
the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinbu' 
exceedingly entertaining. . . . We venture to predict for thia autuL.ioi;raiih> .> 
wide circulation." — Dundee Advertiser. 

"The book is eminently readable, ver}' quiet for the most part, hut not wi*' 
a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens nu \\v.\r r ' 
together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are almost en 
to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, with some playful j)er- 
which various Professors, some mentioned by name and others den*/' 
are the objects in chief, although the peculiarities of certain lan.i. > ,.< > w. 
province it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or el>cwhcre. c 
in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there is n- ' 
nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of treatment. Two c!. 
voted to a sketch, brief but graphic and sympathetic, of academic (. » r 

the author went to sojourn and to study for two months." — Illustrated . 

"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable 
a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style. . . . The . 
an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with greater relish th.i 
fogies who see in it much of what they themselves passed through, and w!. 
perusal, are led to recal, with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the frcsl.: 
the frolic of their own College days." — Perthshire Constitutional. 

" By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with ron*}d<^- 
able pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of ' ' 
their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more boisterous playful 
posed to be the characteristic of students as a class. Those, again, m 
outsiders, and have had no College days whatever, will be c!, f r ! 
here given of the doings of the students, and the customs a 
pective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several profe 
pressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original and 
dred and one subjects here treated of by a man of observant i..n 
lity of expression, besides a keen sense and appreciation of the h ; 
— Stirling Observer. 

" Many a 'varsity man, who has won his degree in the mode*! 'Jillle city, worn 
and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. K. M. Fergusson** CoiUgt Dmp, 



12 ll 

Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the wild Bohemianism of student 
ife, and bristlini; with the 'classic' ditties which have so often made the halls of 
)t. Salvator's resound, here is material for a mental revel in the past." — Northern 
Ihronule. 

•* This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only because the 
tyle is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured. . . . The book contains 
cveral capital anecdotes and some excellent verse." — London Figaro. 

" But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a student which 
5 presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his amusements and his hard reading, 
re here written of by one who has evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout 
hese pages are numerous verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. 
"he original verses are very good. . . ." — Stirling J otcrnal. 

"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of finding, 
nd doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. There is not a chapter in 
lie book which is not thoroughly entertaining." — The Tribune. 

"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to wit, and 
it. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an outsider, of Oxford. 

. There is much that is interesting and entertaining, some good stories, and 
enerally a pleasant picture of a happy and busy life." — Spectator. 

"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and also desipii 
n loco, and tells some good stories — professors being naturally his chief subjects." — 
""all Mall Gazette. 

"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates his own 
xperiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a sufficiently lively and 
freshman ' style. . . . J\Ty College Days is, on the whole, as readable as any 
•ook of the kind that has recently been published." — The Academy. 

" Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young man at 
it. Andrews and Edinburgh, in My College Days. This ' autobiography of an old 
tudent ' contains much interesting reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps 
ot erred in introducing into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his 
Caledonian student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. 
'ergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among former alumni 
f the .Scottish Universities, for he writes without affectation.' — Graphic. 

' Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these reminiscences of 
College days. No one who has gone through the curriculum of a Scotch University 
an fail to attest the fidelity with which his experience here finds expression. . . 
An Old Student' was privileged to have more than one alma mater. He could 
loast the fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all 
hese he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experienres at Oxford will 
spay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, though thoughtful and 
ffectionate strain, must incite the most cordial sympathy of all whose student days 
ave not been forgotten, while the general public will peruse it with responsive 
earts and a regretful feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it 
reals. ' — Brechin Advertiser. 

' The minister of Logic, who made a decided hit with Rambles hi the Far North, 
as attempted a very difficult bit of work in My College Days. This purports to be 
lie MS. legacy of a College friend who died young after some experience of student 
fe in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, 
Ithough it may shield the editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and 



13 

vigour and kindly reminiscence, there is also some very sharp critiritm, au'i much 

reference to Academic dignitaries who arc still in the flesh, an ! 

inclined to sting when they lind some of their class jr. he, v. 

bound in a book. . . . If certain Edinburgh di\ v^, 

these pages, they will for once see themselves as the i^ 

amazed at the impudence of the rising generation. LvcrylxKly who 

burgh will recognise the portrait of the preacher who is likened to 

Thomson in one thing — 'There's ae thing alwut yon man, he's a ^;i .-r.' 

The St. Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a ch.u 

alumni of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a lar. 

the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby of the Natural i j. !..><,.;.. hy 

class-room was wont to resound." — Elgin Courant. 

"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of st- Mc 

The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will d<r: .ny^ 

and the chapter dealing with landladies, their varieties and idiosyncraciei, is 
humorous, " — Morning Post. 

" To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities— EdinhurRh and 
St. Andrews — My College Days is charged with intense interest, ih- ' 
humour and chatty discursiveness will render it attractive reading ■ 
initiated in academic mysteries and innocent of student frivolities. The 1. 
Edinburgh student, in college and out of college, in the cla.ssroom, the . 
society, the theatre,, and the church, is descriljed with untiring vivacity. . . . 
Whether author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely con- 
gratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature not alwayt 
instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's hands it l>-.\;.mci 
both. " — Fifes hire Journal. 

"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. F"crgu 
done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, and. in many i: 
mipressive descriptions of University life ; it is enlivened at judicious i:. 
original verses, which evince lyrical power; its style is admirably ci: 
clear ; it is sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially -.^ 
with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by narrow-m.. 
so frequently abused." — Ayr Observer. 

"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, too, of its hard- 
ships, abounds with excellent stories, is very discriminating in profes>ional criticism, 
while scattered throughout the racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs 
recorded nowhere else. . . . Altogether the volume is very readable, and nu 
student, at all events, can find a dull page in it." — Kelso Chronicle. 



THE TRAGEDY OF GOIVRIE IIOU^L. 

An Historical Study. By Louis A. Barbe'. Fcap. 4to, 6s. 

In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of :- ry, 

usually known as the Cowrie Conspiracy, the author has not on.y 'he 

old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new light on I; by 

the help of letters to be found in the Record Office, but overl>M)k'- ' ■ ■>cd 

by former historians, of documents recently discovered by the on 

Historical MSS., and also of important papers preser\-ed in the Kiei.v .. .^^ ^»» 



14 

"^ treasure of almost priceless tho7ight and criticism."" — Contemporary. 
Keviexv. 



In the Press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. 6d. 



WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS, 

FROM THE PROSE OF 

HEINRICH HEINE. 

VJIJH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS." 

SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY 

J. SNODGRASS. 



'* Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a 
great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open 
it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram ; they 
need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters 
little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole book." — 
Atheuaiim, April 19, 1877. 

"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to 
derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. vSnodgrass's pages." — Contem- 
forary Revieiv^ September iSSo. 

"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine 
literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of 
expression — quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns — that the trans- 
lator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting Heine as 
he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own thoughts." 
Glasgoio Herald^ March 31, 1879. 



15 

"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' \c., has done a grcnt service in thit 
respect, presenting as it were a full-length minialure of the n»an, clear and 
eftective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully cau^jht, and 
where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, f..r he it 
made to paint his own portrait."— ^/iV/V// QuarUrly Rcvieiv, Octohr 1881. 

'• Mr, Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in 
presenting us with a compact little volume like that before us."— 5/v<-/<i/^. 

"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. .^nodgrasn, 
for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. Ilis liook is one to 
welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and criti- 
cism." — Contemporary Review^ February 188 1. 

"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit ',f wnrV:,"— 
Examiner^ April 26, 1879. 

*' We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exception- 
ally well." — The Literary JVorld, A/ay g, 1879. 

" Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in 
this volume, and has given us a most attractive and eflkient intro<luction 
to the study of Heine." — T/ie Nonconformist, August 20, 1879. 

"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is 
easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and 
sympathy for his matter." — Notes and Queries, Aj>ril 19, 1S79. 

"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a 
volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the 
most successful books of the season." — Aberdeen Journal, March 26, 1879. 

"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of 
volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German 
thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished French- 
man's style." — Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1S79. 

"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation auuui.u'i^ wcu, 
and we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it more wit of the 
highest sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been 
given to the public." — Vanity Fair, November 8, 1S79. 

"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. >.. 
perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to Engli^ll 
the author of the ' Book of Songs.' ''—The Week, April 19. ii>7«,). 

"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for tl. )i 

reader; but the selection from Heine's prose works in gener.il. i 



i6 

ciously made and excellently translated by ]\Ir. Snodgrass, gives a much 
comi)letcr view of the qualities of the writer's mind." — Saturday Revieiv. 

"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection 
of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings ; but he has selected, in the 
•rdcrin which they occur in the complete German edition, such extracts 
as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has produced a 
very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy and luxurious 
persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to read a delight- 
ful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to fatigue the most 
fastidious attention." — Academy, May -^l, 1879. 



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